Kauppa on lähellä.

The store is nearby.

Breakdown of Kauppa on lähellä.

• olla: to be
• kauppa: the store
• lähellä: nearby

Questions & Answers about Kauppa on lähellä.

What is on in this sentence?

On is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb olla (‘to be’). It acts as a copula linking the subject kauppa to the adverb lähellä.

Which case is kauppa in, and why?

Kauppa is in the nominative singular because it’s the subject of the sentence. Subjects in Finnish normally stand in the nominative case.

What part of speech is lähellä, and does it take any case ending?

In Kauppa on lähellä, lähellä functions as an adverb meaning ‘nearby’. As an adverb, it doesn’t take extra case endings or require an object; it simply describes the location.
Note: Lähellä can also work as a postposition (“close to”) when attached to a noun in the genitive, e.g. kaupan lähellä (‘close to the shop’).

Why aren’t there any articles like ‘a’ or ‘the’ before kauppa?

Finnish has no separate words for definite or indefinite articles. Kauppa can translate as ‘a shop’ or ‘the shop’ depending on context, so no article is needed.

How would you turn this into ‘Is the shop nearby?’ in Finnish?

You invert the copula and subject and use the question form onko:
Onko kauppa lähellä?
Onko is the interrogative form of on.

How do you say ‘the shop is far away’?

Replace lähellä (nearby) with its opposite kaukana:
Kauppa on kaukana.

Can I change the word order, e.g. say Lähellä on kauppa?

Yes. Finnish allows flexible word order for emphasis.

• Kauppa on lähellä. (‘The shop is nearby.’)
• Lähellä on kauppa. (‘Nearby, there’s a shop.’ – emphasis on location)

What’s the plural of kauppa, and how do I say ‘Shops are nearby’?

The plural nominative of kauppa is kaupat. The 3rd person plural form of olla is ovat. So:
Kaupat ovat lähellä.
(‘Shops are nearby.’)

How would you say ‘Our shop is close to the school’?

Use the genitive for ‘school’ and the possessive suffix for ‘our shop’:
Kauppamme on koulun lähellä.
Here, kauppamme = ‘our shop’ (kauppa + -mme) and koulun is the genitive of koulu (‘school’).