La gare est là-bas.

They are two different words:

• la in la gare is the feminine singular definite article: the
• là-bas is an adverb meaning over there / down there

So even though they look similar, they have different jobs in the sentence.

Also, la and là are pronounced the same in modern French. The accent in là mainly helps distinguish it in writing.

Because gare is a feminine noun in French.

French nouns have grammatical gender, so:

• la gare = feminine
• le would be used with a masculine noun

This is something you generally have to learn with each noun. It does not necessarily match biological gender or any obvious logic.

est is the he/she/it form of the verb être (to be) in the present tense.

So:

• je suis = I am
• tu es = you are
• il/elle est = he/she/it is

In La gare est là-bas, est simply means is.

Because là-bas is a fixed expression in French.

It is normally written with a hyphen and functions as a single adverb meaning something like over there or down there, usually with a sense of distance.

So the standard spelling is:

• là-bas

not:

• là bas

Both refer to location, but là-bas usually suggests more distance.

A rough comparison:

• ici = here
• là = there / here, depending on context
• là-bas = over there, further away

So là-bas often sounds like the place is not right next to the speaker.

French usually keeps the normal order:

subject + verb + place

So:

• La gare = subject
• est = verb
• là-bas = location

That makes La gare est là-bas the most straightforward word order.

French can move things around for emphasis, but the basic pattern is very common and natural.

A careful pronunciation is approximately:

la gar eh la ba

IPA: /la ɡaʁ ɛ la ba/

A few notes:

• gare sounds like gar with a French r
• est is pronounced eh here; the final t is silent
• là-bas has the stress pattern typical of French, with the rhythm flowing across the phrase

Normally, yes, you need the article.

In French, singular countable nouns usually need a determiner such as:

• le / la / les
• un / une
• ce / cette

So La gare est là-bas is normal, but Gare est là-bas is not standard French.

Yes, you could, and it sounds very natural in conversation.

Compare:

• La gare est là-bas. = straightforward, neutral statement
• La gare, c'est là-bas. = a little more conversational, often used when pointing something out or answering a question

Both are correct, but La gare est là-bas is slightly more direct and textbook-like.

The accent grave in là is mostly there to distinguish it from other forms written la, such as:

• la = the
• la = it/her (object pronoun)

In pronunciation, la and là are generally the same. The accent mainly helps with spelling and reading.

So in this sentence:

• La gare starts with the article La
• là-bas contains the adverb là

The accent helps you see that these are different words.