La meva mare acaba de tornar de la farmàcia.

In standard Catalan, possessive adjectives usually come with the definite article: el meu llibre, la meva mare, els meus amics.

So la meva mare is the normal standard pattern for my mother.

You may sometimes hear forms without the article, or shorter possessives such as ma mare or mon pare, especially in some dialects or more traditional/literary usage, but as a learner, la meva mare is the safest default.

Acabar de + infinitive is a very common Catalan structure meaning to have just done something.

So:

• acaba de tornar = has just returned / just came back

This is an idiomatic pattern. You should learn it as a whole expression:

• acabo de menjar = I have just eaten
• acaben d’arribar = they have just arrived

Because in Catalan, the present tense of acabar is used in this construction to express a very recent past.

So even though acaba is formally present tense, acaba de tornar means something like has just returned.

This is similar to how English uses has just + past participle:

• La meva mare acaba de tornar = My mother has just returned

Here tornar means to return or to come back.

So:

• tornar de la farmàcia = to come back from the pharmacy

Be careful, because tornar also appears in another very common pattern:

• tornar a + infinitive = to do something again

For example:

• Torna a llegir-ho = Read it again

But in your sentence, tornar simply means return/come back, and de la farmàcia tells you where from.

They are doing two different jobs.

1. acaba de tornar
   Here, de is part of the fixed expression acabar de + infinitive.

2. de la farmàcia
   Here, de means from.

So the sentence contains:

• acaba de tornar = has just returned
• de la farmàcia = from the pharmacy

It may look repetitive, but grammatically it is completely normal.

After verbs of movement such as venir, tornar, and sortir, Catalan normally uses de to express origin:

• torna de casa = comes back from home
• ve de l’escola = comes from school
• surten de l’oficina = they leave the office

Des de usually emphasizes a starting point in space or time, more like from in the sense of starting at:

• des de dilluns = since Monday
• des de Barcelona fins a Girona = from Barcelona to Girona

In this sentence, simple de is the natural choice.

Yes.

• La meva mare ha tornat de la farmàcia = My mother has returned / came back from the pharmacy
• La meva mare acaba de tornar de la farmàcia = My mother has just returned from the pharmacy

The difference is that acaba de tornar specifically adds the idea of just now or very recently.

Catalan often leaves subject pronouns out when they are not needed. This is called pro-drop.

Since the subject is already stated as la meva mare, adding ella would usually be unnecessary.

You could even omit the subject entirely if the context made it clear:

• Acaba de tornar de la farmàcia = She has just come back from the pharmacy

Catalan relies a lot on the verb form and context to show who is doing the action.

Farmàcia is a feminine singular noun, so its article is la:

• la farmàcia = the pharmacy

After de, Catalan contracts only with el:

• de + el = del

But with la, there is no contraction:

• de la farmàcia, not dela farmàcia

If the noun began with a vowel, you would often see elision instead:

• de l’escola = from the school

Then the meaning would change.

• de la farmàcia = from the pharmacy
• a la farmàcia = to the pharmacy

So:

• torna de la farmàcia = comes back from the pharmacy
• va a la farmàcia = goes to the pharmacy

This is an important contrast, because English speakers often mix up to and from prepositions when learning a new language.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural one:

• La meva mare acaba de tornar de la farmàcia

This follows a normal pattern:

• subject: La meva mare
• verb phrase: acaba de tornar
• place of origin: de la farmàcia

Catalan can move elements around for emphasis, but that usually sounds more marked or literary. For everyday use, the original order is the best model.

The stress falls on mà:

• far-MÀ-ci-a

The grave accent in farmàcia tells you where the stress goes. For a beginner, the most useful thing is to remember that the stressed syllable is mà.

So if you say it with the stress somewhere else, it will sound wrong. The accent mark helps prevent that.