Learn Hardcore French: Dans ce village, aucune maison n’est vraiment loin du centre. - In this village, no house is really far from the center.

ne … aucun(e) after the verb:
- Je n’ai aucune voiture. = I have no car / I don’t have any car.
aucun(e) … ne when aucun(e) is the subject:
- Aucune maison n’est loin. = No house is far.

So in your sentence:

Aucune maison is the subject.
n’ (from ne) goes directly in front of the verb est.
You do not add pas, because ne … aucun(e) already makes a full negation.

Aucune maison est is ungrammatical in standard French, and maison n’est pas would need a determiner (for example la maison n’est pas…, cette maison n’est pas…).

Why is it aucune and not aucun?

Aucun / aucune agrees in gender (and usually number) with the noun that follows:

aucun
- masculine singular noun
  - aucun problème – no problem
aucune
- feminine singular noun
  - aucune idée – no idea

Maison is feminine in French (une maison), so you must use:

aucune maison

If the noun were masculine, you would say aucun:

aucun village n’est vraiment loin du centre – no village is really far from the centre.

Why do we say aucune maison n’est and not aucune maison ne sont?

Even though aucune maison refers to all the houses in the village, grammatically it is singular:

aucune maison = no house (singular), not no houses

Because of that, the verb agrees in the singular:

Aucune maison n’est… ✔
Aucune maison ne sont… ✘ (incorrect)

There is a very rare plural form aucunes, but you normally avoid it, and you would not use it here. Standard French uses the singular with aucun / aucune in this kind of sentence.

What is the purpose of putting Dans ce village at the beginning, and is the comma necessary?

Dans ce village is a location phrase meaning in this village. Putting it first sets the scene:

Dans ce village, aucune maison n’est vraiment loin du centre.
= In this village, no house is really far from the centre.

You could also put it at the end:

Aucune maison n’est vraiment loin du centre dans ce village.

Both are grammatical, but starting with Dans ce village sounds more natural and more stylistic, because it clearly frames the context first.

The comma is usually added in writing but is not strictly obligatory:

With comma: Dans ce village, aucune maison… (very standard)
Without comma: Dans ce village aucune maison… (also possible, especially in informal writing)

Why is it dans ce village and not à ce village or en ce village?

In French, you typically use:

dans for being physically inside something:
- dans ce village – in this village (inside its limits)
- dans cette ville – in this city
à with city names, or with some nouns in certain expressions:
- à Paris – in Paris
- au village (generic: at the village / in the village, as a place)
  But à ce village is not used to mean in this village.
en ce village sounds old‑fashioned or very literary; it is not used in everyday modern French.

So for a neutral, modern sentence meaning in this village, dans ce village is the natural choice.

What exactly does du centre mean here, and what is du?

Du is a contraction of de + le:

de + le centre → du centre

Literally: loin du centre = far from the centre.

In context, le centre usually means the centre of the village or town: the main square, shops, town hall, etc. If you wanted to be more explicit, you could say:

loin du centre du village – far from the centre of the village
loin du centre‑ville – far from the town centre (more common with cities or bigger towns)

But in a short, clear sentence like this, du centre is normally understood as of the village.

What is the role of vraiment in n’est vraiment loin du centre? Could we leave it out?

Vraiment means really / truly / actually.

loin = far
vraiment loin = really far

If you remove vraiment:

Aucune maison n’est loin du centre.
= No house is far from the centre.

With vraiment:

Aucune maison n’est vraiment loin du centre.
= No house is really far from the centre (maybe some are a bit far, but not that far).

So vraiment softens the idea a little and adds nuance: it suggests that, in practical terms, every house is close enough to the centre.

Could we say très loin instead of vraiment loin? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say:

Aucune maison n’est très loin du centre.

Both vraiment and très can intensify loin, but they feel slightly different:

très loin = very far
It sounds more like a measurement of distance (stronger degree).
vraiment loin = really far
It can sound a bit more subjective, like actually / in reality, and can be used when you are correcting an impression someone might have.

The difference is subtle; both are very common and both would work well in this sentence.

Is there another way to say the same thing using il n’y a?

Yes. You can make an existential sentence with il n’y a:

Dans ce village, il n’y a aucune maison vraiment loin du centre.

This literally means: In this village, there is no house (that is) really far from the centre.

The meaning is practically the same, but:

Aucune maison n’est vraiment loin du centre focuses on the subject aucune maison (no house is…).
Il n’y a aucune maison… focuses on existence (there is no house…).

Both are perfectly natural.

What would the positive (non‑negative) version of this idea look like?

A common positive way to express the same idea is:

Dans ce village, toutes les maisons sont près du centre.
= In this village, all the houses are near the centre.

The nuance:

Aucune maison n’est vraiment loin du centre emphasizes that none are far.
Toutes les maisons sont près du centre emphasizes that all are close.

In many contexts they are interchangeable, but the negative version can sound slightly stronger if you want to insist that not even one is far away.

Are there any tricky pronunciation points or liaisons in this sentence?

Some key points:

Dans ce
Often pronounced without liaison: roughly dɑ̃ sə. The final s of dans is usually silent here.
village
ll is pronounced like in village in English: vi‑LAHZH → [viˈlaʒ].
aucune maison
Approximate: oh‑KUN meh‑ZON → [okyn mɛzɔ̃].
The n of aucune is pronounced, and maison ends with a nasal vowel [ɔ̃].
n’est vraiment
Often [nɛ vʁɛmɑ̃]; the t of est is usually silent here, so you normally do not say n’est‑t‑vraiment.
centre
Approximate: SAHN‑tr → [sɑ̃tʁ].
The re at the end is pronounced with a French r, not like English cent-er.