Το λύκειο είναι κοντά.

το is the definite article in Greek, meaning the.

So:

• το λύκειο = the high school

Greek uses the article very regularly, often more regularly than English. In this sentence, το shows that we are talking about a specific high school.

Also, το is the neuter singular form of the, because λύκειο is a neuter noun.

In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.

λύκειο happens to be a neuter noun, so it takes:

• το in the nominative singular
• a neuter pattern in other cases too

This grammatical gender does not mean the school itself is biologically gendered. It is simply part of how Greek nouns are classified.

A learner often just has to memorize nouns together with their article:

• το λύκειο = the high school

That is the safest way to learn them.

In Modern Greek, λύκειο usually means high school, especially the upper secondary school level.

So depending on context, it may refer to:

• a high school in general
• the local high school
• a school corresponding roughly to the final years before university

Although the word is historically related to lyceum, in everyday Modern Greek the normal meaning is high school.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Το ≈ toh
• λύκειο ≈ LEE-kee-o
• είναι ≈ EE-ne
• κοντά ≈ kon-DA

Stress falls on:

• λύκειο
• είναι
• κοντά

A smoother full pronunciation is roughly:

toh LEE-kee-o EE-ne kon-DA

A small note: in natural speech, είναι is often pronounced more like EE-ne than a fully separate EE-nai.

είναι means is.

So the structure is:

• Το λύκειο = the high school
• είναι = is
• κοντά = near / nearby / close

Greek normally uses the verb to be in sentences like this, just as English does:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά. = The high school is near / nearby.

You generally cannot drop είναι here in standard Greek.

Here κοντά functions like an adverb meaning:

• near
• nearby
• close

In this sentence it describes location:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά.
• The high school is nearby.

A useful contrast:

• κοντά = nearby, close, near
• κοντινός / κοντινή / κοντινό = near, nearby as an adjective

For example:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά. = The high school is nearby.
• Το λύκειο είναι κοντινό. = The high school is close/near.

The first is usually more natural for simple location.

Because κοντά here is not an adjective agreeing with the noun. It is being used adverbially, so it stays the same.

Greek adjectives usually change according to:

• gender
• number
• case

But κοντά in this sentence is fixed:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά.
• Η τράπεζα είναι κοντά.
• Τα σπίτια είναι κοντά.

It stays κοντά in all of these.

Yes. In natural English, all of these can work depending on context:

• The high school is near.
• The high school is nearby.
• The high school is close.

If no specific reference point is mentioned, κοντά often feels like nearby.

So the Greek sentence gives the idea that the high school is not far away.

Usually you add a preposition.

Common patterns are:

• κοντά σε ... = near ...
• κοντά στο / στη / στον ... = near the ...
• sometimes κοντά από ... can also appear depending on context and style

Examples:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά στο σπίτι μου. = The high school is near my house.
• Είναι κοντά σε μια πλατεία. = It is near a square.

In your sentence, there is no object of comparison, so κοντά stands alone and means nearby.

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Κοντά είναι το λύκειο.
• Είναι κοντά το λύκειο.

These are less neutral and may sound more marked or context-driven. For a learner, Το λύκειο είναι κοντά is the safest and most natural basic order.

Because Greek does not need one here.

English often says:

• The high school is nearby.
• It is nearby.
• sometimes even There is... in other types of sentences

But in Greek, the sentence works directly as:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά.

The subject το λύκειο is already stated, so nothing extra is needed.

Normally, no, not in standard neutral Greek.

If you mean the high school, you should say:

• Το λύκειο είναι κοντά.

Leaving out the article would sound unnatural in ordinary usage. Greek uses articles more often than English, especially with ordinary nouns referring to specific things.

If you meant something more like a high school is nearby, Greek would usually express that differently, not simply by dropping the article here.

It is a very straightforward pattern:

• Subject: Το λύκειο = the high school
• Verb: είναι = is
• Location/complement: κοντά = near / nearby

So the pattern is:

[noun phrase] + [form of to be] + [location expression]

This is a very useful beginner pattern in Greek, for example:

• Το σπίτι είναι μακριά. = The house is far away.
• Η τράπεζα είναι εδώ. = The bank is here.
• Το σχολείο είναι απέναντι. = The school is opposite / across.

So Το λύκειο είναι κοντά is a very good model sentence to learn.