La màquina està lliure.

• La = the (feminine singular definite article)
• màquina = machine
• està = is from the verb estar
• lliure = free, available, or unoccupied depending on context

So the structure is:

article + noun + verb + adjective

That is a very normal Catalan sentence pattern.

Because Catalan usually uses estar for a current state or condition, and ser for identity, classification, or more inherent characteristics.

Here, lliure means the machine is free/available right now, so estar is the natural choice:

• La màquina està lliure = the machine is currently free

If you used és, it would sound unnatural in this context, or it could suggest a more abstract or permanent idea.

In a normal full sentence, Catalan naturally uses the definite article here: la màquina = the machine.

English sometimes drops articles in notices or labels, but Catalan usually keeps them in ordinary sentences. So La màquina està lliure sounds complete and natural.

Without la, Màquina està lliure would not be standard Catalan.

Yes, màquina is feminine, which is why it uses la.

Many Catalan nouns ending in -a are feminine, and màquina is one of them. So:

• la màquina
• not el màquina

As you learn Catalan, it is useful to memorize nouns together with their article, for example la màquina, not just màquina.

Because lliure has the same singular form for both masculine and feminine.

So you get:

• el cotxe lliure
• la màquina lliure

The adjective only changes in the plural:

• lliure = singular
• lliures = plural

So even though màquina is feminine, lliure stays lliure.

A rough pronunciation for an English speaker is:

luh MAH-kee-nuh es-TAH LYOO-ruh

A few important points:

• màquina has stress on the first syllable: MÀ-qui-na
• qu before i sounds like a hard k
• està has stress on the last syllable: es-TÀ
• ll in lliure is traditionally a palatal sound, something like ly
• pronunciation can vary somewhat by dialect

So lliure is roughly LYOO-ruh.

They show where the stress goes.

• màquina → stress on MÀ
• està → stress on TÀ

This is important because without the written accents, a learner might stress the wrong syllable.

In these words, the accent is mainly telling you the stress. In Catalan, accents on e and o can also show vowel quality, but with a they mainly mark stress.

Usually not in this sentence.

Here, lliure means available, unoccupied, or not in use.

If you want to say free of charge, Catalan more often uses things like:

• gratis
• gratuït / gratuïta
• sometimes de franc

So La màquina està lliure means the machine is available, not that it costs nothing.

The normal neutral order is:

La màquina està lliure.

That is the best version to learn first.

Catalan can change word order for emphasis or in conversation, for example:

• Està lliure, la màquina?

But that sounds marked or conversational. As a basic statement, keep:

subject + verb + adjective

Also, La màquina lliure by itself is not a full sentence, because it is missing the verb.

For the plural:

• Les màquines estan lliures. = The machines are free.

For the negative:

• La màquina no està lliure. = The machine is not free.

This is a useful pattern to notice:

• la màquina → les màquines
• està → estan
• lliure → lliures only in the plural