وعلى يمين الفندق مطعم صغير قريب من النهر.

Arabic often puts a location phrase first when it is setting the scene.

So وعلى يمين الفندق مطعم صغير قريب من النهر literally has the structure:

And on the right of the hotel, a small restaurant near the river.

In natural English, we usually add is or there is: And to the right of the hotel, there is a small restaurant near the river.

So the Arabic word order is normal. The place comes first, and the thing being located comes after it.

Yes, from an English point of view, it feels like a verb is missing.

In the present tense, Arabic often has no written or spoken verb equivalent to is / are in simple sentences like this. This is called a nominal sentence.

So:

مطعم صغير
literally: a small restaurant

But in context it means: there is a small restaurant or it is a small restaurant, depending on the sentence.

Here, because the sentence is about location, English naturally translates it with there is: To the right of the hotel, there is a small restaurant near the river.

و usually means and.

So وعلى is really two parts:

• و = and
• على = on / over / at, depending on context

If this sentence is connected to a previous sentence, translating و as and makes sense.

If the sentence is standing alone, English might leave and untranslated, because English does not always begin a sentence that way.

In Arabic, على يمين is a very common expression meaning on the right of or to the right of.

Word for word:

• على = on
• يمين = right side

So على يمين الفندق literally means: on the right side of the hotel

This is just the normal Arabic way to express that location.

You can compare:

• على يمين الفندق = to the right of the hotel
• على يسار الفندق = to the left of the hotel

Because this is an iḍāfa construction, often called a possessive or of construction.

يمين الفندق literally means: the right side of the hotel

Here:

• يمين = the right side
• الفندق = the hotel

Arabic often uses this direct noun-to-noun structure instead of inserting a word like of.

So:

• يمين الفندق = the right of the hotel
• باب الفندق = the door of the hotel
• اسم الطالب = the name of the student

The of relationship is built into the structure itself.

Because الفندق is definite, while مطعم is indefinite.

• الفندق = the hotel
• مطعم = a restaurant

In this sentence, the hotel is treated as a specific, known place, so it has ال.

The restaurant is being introduced as new information, so it is indefinite: مطعم صغير = a small restaurant

This is very common in Arabic: known place definite, newly introduced object indefinite.

Because مطعم is a masculine singular noun, so its adjective must match it.

• مطعم is masculine singular
• therefore صغير must also be masculine singular

Arabic adjectives agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness
• case

So:

• مطعم صغير = a small restaurant
• مطاعم صغيرة = small restaurants
• غرفة صغيرة = a small room

Since مطعم is masculine singular and indefinite, صغير is also masculine singular and indefinite.

Yes. In this sentence, قريب من النهر describes the restaurant.

So the noun phrase is:

مطعم صغير قريب من النهر
= a small restaurant near the river

Both صغير and قريب describe مطعم.

You can think of the structure like this:

• مطعم = restaurant
• صغير = small
• قريب من النهر = near the river

So Arabic is stacking descriptions after the noun, which is normal.

Because قريب is commonly followed by من when it means near.

So:

• قريب من النهر = near the river
• قريب من المدرسة = near the school
• قريب من البيت = near the house

Even though من often means from, after قريب it is part of the normal pattern for expressing nearness.

So it is best learned as a chunk: قريب من = near

Fully vocalized, the sentence is:

وَعَلَى يَمِينِ الفُنْدُقِ مَطْعَمٌ صَغِيرٌ قَرِيبٌ مِنَ النَّهْرِ

Here is why:

• على is a preposition, so يمين becomes genitive: يمينِ
• يمين الفندق is an iḍāfa, so الفندق is also genitive: الفندقِ
• مطعم is the main noun being talked about, so it is nominative: مطعمٌ
• صغير describes مطعم, so it matches in nominative: صغيرٌ
• قريب also describes مطعم, so it is nominative too: قريبٌ
• من is a preposition, so النهر is genitive: النهرِ

In normal pause pronunciation, learners often do not pronounce the final short vowels, but they are still important grammatically.

Yes, a sentence like this is possible:

مطعم صغير قريب من النهر على يمين الفندق

That would still be understandable and grammatical in many contexts.

But the original sentence puts the location first: وعلى يمين الفندق...

That gives a slightly different focus. It is like saying: And to the right of the hotel, there is...

So the original version emphasizes the location first, which is very natural when describing a map, a street, or where things are.

A very useful way is to break it into three pieces:

• وعلى يمين الفندق = And to the right of the hotel
• مطعم صغير = a small restaurant
• قريب من النهر = near the river

Put together:

And to the right of the hotel, there is a small restaurant near the river.

This chunking helps because Arabic often builds meaning by placing:

1. the location,
2. then the thing,
3. then its descriptions.