Gå rakt över gatan vid övergångsstället, så ligger apoteket på vänster sida.

Gå is the imperative form of the verb gå (to go / walk).

In Swedish, just like in English, commands usually do not include the subject:

• Gå rakt över gatan = Walk straight across the street
• English also usually says Go..., not You go...

So the sentence is giving directions directly to the listener.

Rakt över means straight across.

• rakt = straight
• över = over / across

Together, gå rakt över gatan means go straight across the street, not diagonally or by turning.

In directions, rakt is very common:

• gå rakt fram = go straight ahead
• rakt över gatan = straight across the street

Gatan already means the street.

In Swedish, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun:

• en gata = a street
• gatan = the street

So över gatan literally means across the street.

You would only add a separate word like den in more special cases, for example with an adjective:

• den stora gatan = the big street

But here, plain gatan is enough.

Vid övergångsstället means at the pedestrian crossing or by the crosswalk.

• vid = at / by / next to
• övergångsstället = the pedestrian crossing / crosswalk

Here, vid tells you the place where you should cross. It is very natural in Swedish directions.

A learner may expect på övergångsstället because English says on the crosswalk, and Swedish can sometimes use på too, but vid övergångsstället is very idiomatic when giving directions and can mean roughly at the crossing point.

Övergångsstället is the definite singular form of övergångsställe.

Breakdown:

• övergång = crossing
• ställe = place
• övergångsställe = crossing place, meaning pedestrian crossing / crosswalk
• övergångsstället = the pedestrian crossing

The ending -et is the definite ending for many ett-words in Swedish.

So:

• ett övergångsställe = a pedestrian crossing
• övergångsstället = the pedestrian crossing

Here så means something like then, and then, or in that case.

The sentence structure is:

• Gå rakt över gatan vid övergångsstället
• så ligger apoteket på vänster sida

This is a very natural way to link an instruction with the result:

• Cross the street at the crosswalk, and then the pharmacy is on the left.

It sounds a bit like:

• If you do that, the pharmacy is on the left-hand side.

So så helps connect the first action to what you will see next.

This is because of Swedish V2 word order.

In main clauses, the finite verb usually comes in the second position. When a word like så comes first, the verb often comes before the subject:

• Så ligger apoteket på vänster sida.

Compare:

• Apoteket ligger på vänster sida.
• Så ligger apoteket på vänster sida.

In the second version, så takes the first position, so ligger comes second and apoteket comes after it.

This is a very important Swedish word order pattern.

Swedish often uses ligga (lie / be located) when talking about where places or buildings are.

So:

• Apoteket ligger på vänster sida = The pharmacy is on the left-hand side
• more literally: The pharmacy lies/is located on the left side

This is very common with buildings, shops, towns, and other places:

• Banken ligger bredvid stationen. = The bank is next to the station.
• Stockholm ligger i Sverige. = Stockholm is in Sweden.

English usually says is, but Swedish often prefers ligger for location.

På vänster sida means on the left side.

• på = on
• vänster = left
• sida = side

So apoteket på vänster sida means the pharmacy is on the left side.

A very common alternative is till vänster = to the left:

• Apoteket ligger till vänster.
• Apoteket ligger på vänster sida.

These are very similar.
På vänster sida sounds a little more like on the left-hand side, while till vänster is often the simpler everyday way to say to the left.

Apoteket means the pharmacy, not just a pharmacy.

In this sentence, the speaker means a specific pharmacy that the listener is trying to find. That is why the definite form is used:

• ett apotek = a pharmacy
• apoteket = the pharmacy

When giving directions, Swedish often uses the definite form because the place is understood to be specific.

Not perfectly. A word-for-word version would sound awkward.

A very literal version would be something like:

• Go straight over the street at the pedestrian crossing, so lies the pharmacy on left side.

That is not natural English.

More natural English would be:

• Cross the street at the crosswalk, and the pharmacy will be on your left.
• Go straight across the street at the crosswalk; the pharmacy is on the left-hand side.

This is a good reminder that Swedish and English often express directions in slightly different ways, even when the meaning is the same.

Yes. Even though gå normally means go or walk, in directions it can naturally be used where English would say cross.

So:

• Gå rakt över gatan literally = Walk straight across the street
• natural English = Cross the street

Swedish does have other ways to express crossing, but gå över gatan is completely normal and very common.

Yes, this sounds natural.

It is a normal kind of directions sentence:

• first an instruction
• then the location of the place

A speaker could also say similar versions, such as:

• Gå över gatan vid övergångsstället, så ligger apoteket till vänster.
• Gå rakt över vid övergångsstället. Apoteket ligger på vänster sida.

So the original sentence is natural and idiomatic Swedish.