Learn Hardcore Romanian: Dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât, mergi la farmacie. - If you cough a lot and have pain in your throat, go to the pharmacy.

You can say Dacă tu tușești mult și ai durere în gât... if you want to emphasize you (as opposed to someone else), similar to English “If you cough a lot…”. Without emphasis, leaving out tu is more typical.

What verb form is tușești? Is it present, imperative, or something else?

tușești is present indicative, 2nd person singular of a tuși (to cough):

eu tușesc – I cough
tu tușești – you cough
el/ea tușește – he/she coughs

In this sentence it’s part of the if‑clause (the condition): “If you cough a lot…”. The command is in the second part (mergi la farmacie).

Is mergi here a present tense form (“you go”) or an imperative (“go!”)?

Formally, mergi is both:

present indicative: tu mergi = you go
imperative: (tu) mergi! = go!

In this sentence after a condition, mergi la farmacie clearly functions as an imperative: a recommendation or order: “go to the pharmacy.”

Context (a comma, no subject pronoun, the meaning) makes it a command, not a statement.

Why is it la farmacie and not la farmacia or la farmaciea?

The base noun is farmacie (fem., “pharmacy”).
Romanian uses a suffix for the definite article:
- o farmacie = a pharmacy
- farmacia = the pharmacy

After la (to/at), you usually use the indefinite form when you mean “(to) the pharmacy” in a general sense:

Merg la farmacie. = I’m going to the pharmacy (not a specific one identified before).

You say la farmacia X when you specify which one:

Merg la farmacia din colț. = I’m going to the pharmacy on the corner.

“la farmaciea” is incorrect; the article is never a separate word here, it’s a suffix (-a).

Why is it ai durere în gât and not ai o durere în gât?

Both are grammatically possible, but they feel a bit different:

ai durere în gât – “you have throat pain”, more like a general type of symptom.
ai o durere în gât – “you have a pain in your throat”, more like one specific pain, and sounds slightly more bookish in this medical context.

In everyday speech, Romanians even more often say:

ai dureri în gât = you have throat pains
te doare gâtul = your throat hurts / you have a sore throat

So a very natural version would be:
Dacă tușești mult și te doare gâtul, mergi la farmacie.

What’s the difference between durere and doare?

They are related but not the same:

durere = pain (noun)
- o durere – a pain
- durerea – the pain
- dureri – pains
doare comes from the verb a durea = to hurt / to ache
- Mă doare capul. = My head hurts.
- Te doare gâtul. = Your throat hurts.

So:

ai durere în gât = you have pain in your throat (noun)
te doare gâtul = your throat hurts (verb)

Can I also say the sentence with the parts reversed, like in English: “Go to the pharmacy if you cough a lot…”?

Yes. Both orders are correct:

Dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât, mergi la farmacie.
Mergi la farmacie dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât.

The meaning is the same.
The only small difference is focus: starting with Dacă… puts more emphasis on the condition; starting with Mergi… puts more emphasis on the advice/command.

Why is there a comma after gât?

Romanian, like English, usually separates an if‑clause from the main clause with a comma when the if‑clause comes first:

Dacă … , (atunci) …

So:

Dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât, mergi la farmacie.

If you put the main clause first, there is no comma before dacă:

Mergi la farmacie dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât.

Is mult an adverb or an adjective here? And are there alternatives to say “a lot”?

In tușești mult, mult functions as an adverb, modifying the verb tușești (“cough”).

Common alternatives:

tușești foarte mult – you cough very much / a lot
tușești tare – you cough hard / strongly (often about intensity)
tușești des – you cough often / frequently (frequency)

mult by itself is very common and perfectly natural here.

How would I make this sentence more polite or more like a recommendation than a direct order?

The imperative mergi la farmacie can sound like a direct command. To soften it, Romanians often use structures with ar trebui (should) or mai bine (better):

Dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât, ar trebui să mergi la farmacie.
= If you cough a lot and have a sore throat, you should go to the pharmacy.
Dacă tușești mult și ai durere în gât, mai bine mergi la farmacie.
= …you’d better go to the pharmacy.

For speaking to someone politely (formal you), you also switch to plural:

… ar trebui să mergeți la farmacie.
… mai bine mergeți la farmacie.

How would this sentence change if I spoke formally to someone (using polite you)?

Use dumneavoastră (formal you) and plural verb forms:

Dacă tușiți mult și aveți durere în gât, mergeți la farmacie.

Changes:

tușești → tușiți (2nd person plural)
ai → aveți
mergi → mergeți

You can also add dumneavoastră for extra politeness, usually once:

Dacă dumneavoastră tușiți mult și aveți durere în gât, mergeți la farmacie.

How do I pronounce the tricky sounds like ș, ă, and â in this sentence?

Key sounds here:

ș in tușești = English sh in “she”: too-SHESH-ty (approx.)
ă in dacă = a short, neutral vowel, like the a in “sofa”: DAH-kə
â in în and gât = a central vowel, similar to the u in British “burn”, but more central; it’s a distinct Romanian sound.

Approximate pronunciations:

Dacă – DAH-kə
tușești – too-SHESH-ty
gât – something like gɨt (no exact English equivalent)
farmacie – far-ma-CI-eh (the ci like “chee”)

Is this exactly how Romanians would usually say this, or is there a more natural everyday version?

Your sentence is correct and understandable, but everyday speech often prefers te doare gâtul or ai dureri în gât. A very natural version would be:

Dacă tușești mult și te doare gâtul, mergi la farmacie.
Dacă tușești mult și ai dureri în gât, mergi la farmacie.

Both sound very natural in spoken Romanian.