Si vostè té dolor al cap, ha d'anar a la farmàcia avui.

Vostè means you in a formal singular sense. It is used when speaking politely to one person, for example a customer, patient, older person, or someone you do not know well.

A less formal version would use tu:

• Si tens dolor al cap, has d'anar a la farmàcia avui.

So this sentence sounds polite or respectful.

With vostè, Catalan uses third-person singular verb forms, even though it refers to the person being spoken to.

So:

• vostè té = you have (formal)
• literally, it behaves grammatically like he/she has

This is similar to how Spanish works with usted tiene.

Yes. In Catalan, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb already shows the person clearly enough.

So you could also say:

• Si té dolor al cap, ha d'anar a la farmàcia avui.

Including vostè makes the sentence a bit more explicit, polite, or emphatic.

Si means if.

So:

• Si vostè té dolor al cap = If you have pain in your head

Be careful not to confuse this with sí (with an accent), which means yes.

Catalan often expresses this idea as dolor al cap, literally pain in the head.

You may also hear:

• mal de cap = headache

In everyday speech, mal de cap is often more natural for headache, while dolor al cap is also understandable and may sound a bit more descriptive or formal.

Al is a contraction of a + el:

• a = to / at / in
• el = the
• a + el = al

So:

• dolor al cap literally means pain to/in the head, which is the normal Catalan structure here.

This kind of contraction is very common in Catalan.

In this expression, Catalan normally says:

• dolor al cap
• mal de cap

The body part does not need to be introduced the same way English does. Catalan uses its own idiomatic structure here, and al cap already includes the article through al = a + el.

Also note that cap means head.

Ha d'anar means has to go or must go.

It is built from:

• ha = has
• de = a linking preposition used in this structure
• anar = to go

So:

• ha d'anar = has to go

This is a very common way to express obligation in Catalan.

This is because of elision. When de comes before a vowel, the e is usually dropped and replaced with an apostrophe.

So:

• de anar becomes d'anar

This is a normal spelling rule in Catalan and helps the sentence flow more smoothly in pronunciation.

Usually ha d'anar means has to go / must go, so it expresses obligation or necessity.

If you wanted should go in a softer, advisory sense, Catalan would more often use something like:

• hauria d'anar = should go

So in your sentence, the meaning is stronger than simple advice.

A la means to the:

• a = to
• la = the

And farmàcia means pharmacy.

So:

• anar a la farmàcia = to go to the pharmacy

Catalan uses a after anar when saying where someone goes.

Mostly yes. Farmàcia is the place where you get medicine, like a pharmacy or chemist's.

Depending on the English-speaking country, the closest everyday translation may be:

• pharmacy
• drugstore
• chemist's

But farmàcia itself is the standard Catalan word.

Avui means today. In this sentence it appears at the end:

• ha d'anar a la farmàcia avui

That is perfectly correct. But Catalan word order is somewhat flexible, so you could also say:

• Avui ha d'anar a la farmàcia.
• Ha d'anar avui a la farmàcia.

The end position is very natural and often puts light emphasis on today.

Yes, it is understandable and grammatical. However, in everyday speech, many speakers might more naturally say:

• Si vostè té mal de cap, ha d'anar a la farmàcia avui. or, informally:
• Si tens mal de cap, has d'anar a la farmàcia avui.

So the original sentence is fine, but mal de cap is often the more common everyday expression for headache.

If you are speaking to one person informally, you would usually use tu forms:

• Si tens dolor al cap, has d'anar a la farmàcia avui.

Or, more naturally in many situations:

• Si tens mal de cap, has d'anar a la farmàcia avui.

The main changes are:

• vostè → tu
• té → tens
• ha d'anar → has d'anar