Per anar a la llibreria, gira a la dreta a la cantonada.

Literally, it means To go to the bookstore or In order to go to the bookstore.

Here per introduces a purpose:

• per + infinitive = to / in order to

So:

• Per anar a la llibreria = To get to the bookstore / In order to go to the bookstore

In directions, Catalan often uses this structure where English might simply say To get to the bookstore...

Because the verb anar normally takes the preposition a before a destination.

So:

• anar a casa = to go home
• anar a Barcelona = to go to Barcelona
• anar a la llibreria = to go to the bookstore

This is very similar to English go to.

No. Llibreria means bookstore or bookshop, not library.

This is an important false friend for English speakers:

• llibreria = bookstore
• biblioteca = library

So if you want to say library in Catalan, you should say biblioteca.

Gira is the informal singular imperative of girar, meaning turn.

So it is used when speaking to one person in an informal way:

• gira = turn

Examples:

• Gira a l'esquerra = Turn left
• Gira a la dreta = Turn right

Because Catalan, like Spanish, often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form.

So:

• Gira a la dreta naturally means You turn right / Turn right

You could say Tu gira..., but that is usually unnecessary and often sounds unnatural unless you want emphasis.

A la dreta means to the right or on the right.

In Catalan, directions are commonly expressed with a + article + direction word:

• a l'esquerra = to the left
• a la dreta = to the right

So Catalan does not usually say just dreta here. The full phrase a la dreta is the normal expression.

A la cantonada means at the corner.

So:

• gira a la dreta a la cantonada = turn right at the corner

Here cantonada means corner, especially a street corner.

They do different jobs:

• a la dreta tells you the direction: to the right
• a la cantonada tells you the place where you do it: at the corner

So the sentence is built like this:

• gira = turn
• a la dreta = right
• a la cantonada = at the corner

English also does something similar:

• turn right at the corner

Yes. In many contexts, tombar can also be used for to turn, especially in directions.

So you may hear:

• Gira a la dreta
• Tomba a la dreta

Both can mean Turn right.
However, gira is very common and easy to learn as a standard form.

The sentence uses the informal singular command, for one person you address as tu.

Other possibilities are:

• Gira = informal singular
• Giri = formal singular
• Gireu = plural / polite plural
• Girin = formal plural

So you could say:

• Per anar a la llibreria, giri a la dreta a la cantonada.
  = formal singular
• Per anar a la llibreria, gireu a la dreta a la cantonada.
  = plural

The comma helps separate the introductory purpose phrase from the main instruction:

• Per anar a la llibreria, gira a la dreta a la cantonada.

It makes the sentence easier to read. In practice, punctuation can vary a little, but the comma is very natural here because Per anar a la llibreria is an introductory phrase.

A simple approximation is:

ZHEE-rah ah luh DREH-tuh

A few helpful notes:

• g in gira sounds like the soft sound in French jour, not like English g in go
• ll in llibreria is pronounced differently depending on the dialect of Catalan
• dreta has the stress on dre

If you are learning standard Central Catalan, listening to native audio is especially helpful for sounds like g, ll, and unstressed vowels.

Yes, absolutely. In the context of directions, Per anar a... is often best translated naturally as:

• To get to the bookstore...
• To go to the bookstore...
• In order to get to the bookstore...

So even though the literal meaning is close to to go to the bookstore, the natural English translation in a directions context is often to get to the bookstore.