A la farmàcia, la meva mare compra el xarop amb la recepta.

Catalan often puts a place expression at the beginning to set the scene.

So A la farmàcia, la meva mare compra el xarop amb la recepta means something like:

• At the pharmacy, my mother buys the syrup with the prescription

This fronted phrase is very natural. It gives a bit of emphasis to the location.

A more neutral order would be:

• La meva mare compra el xarop a la farmàcia amb la recepta

Both are grammatical.

Because farmàcia is a feminine noun.

In Catalan:

• a + el = al
• a + la = a la

So:

• al metge = to/at the doctor
• a la farmàcia = to/at the pharmacy

You only get the contraction al with masculine singular el.

The comma marks a pause after the fronted location phrase.

It is similar to English sentences like:

• At the pharmacy, my mother buys the syrup...

The comma is especially common when the sentence begins with a setting phrase like place or time.

Catalan normally uses the definite article with possessives.

So you usually say:

• la meva mare = my mother
• el meu pare = my father
• el meu llibre = my book

This is one of the big differences from English. In English, my replaces the. In Catalan, the article usually stays.

There are some exceptions, but for a learner, use the article with possessives is a very good rule.

Compra is the 3rd person singular present tense of comprar = to buy.

So:

• jo compro = I buy
• tu compres = you buy
• ell/ella compra = he/she buys

Here la meva mare is she, so compra is the correct form.

Like the English present simple, it can mean:

• a habitual action: my mother buys
• or, depending on context, a present-time action: my mother is buying

Because xarop is a masculine singular noun, so it takes el.

• el xarop = the syrup

The article agrees with the noun’s gender and number.

If it were indefinite, you would say:

• un xarop = a syrup

In this sentence, el xarop suggests a specific syrup, not just any syrup.

Literally, it means with the prescription.

In context, it suggests that the syrup is being bought using/showing the prescription.

Depending on the situation, English might express this as:

• with the prescription
• with a prescription
• on prescription

Catalan uses amb very naturally here.

Yes. Recepta can mean both:

• prescription
• recipe

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

So:

• A la farmàcia strongly suggests prescription
• A la cuina would more likely suggest recipe

This is a very common vocabulary point for English speakers because English uses two different words.

It can mean syrup in general, not only medicine.

But in this sentence, because we are at the pharmacy and there is a prescription, the meaning is clearly medicinal syrup, probably something like cough syrup.

So the context narrows the meaning.

In xarop, the x is pronounced like English sh.

A simple approximation is:

• sha-ROP

More roughly, the whole sentence can be approximated as:

• a lə far-MA-see-ə, lə ME-və MA-rə KOM-prə əl sha-ROP am lə rə-SEP-tə

That said, pronunciation varies by dialect, especially the unstressed vowels.

The most useful things to remember here are:

• xarop starts with sh
• farmàcia is stressed on mà
• recepta is stressed on cep

The accent mark shows where the stress goes.

Without getting too technical, farmàcia is stressed on mà:

• far-MÀ-ci-a

The accent helps you know that the stress is not on the default syllable.

Accent marks in Catalan are very important because they often tell you how to pronounce the word correctly.

Yes. Catalan word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence could also be:

• La meva mare compra el xarop a la farmàcia amb la recepta

That is also natural.

The version with A la farmàcia first gives a little more emphasis to where the action happens.

So the difference is mostly about focus and style, not basic meaning.