לפי המפה, הבנק קרוב לתחנה.

לפי means according to, based on, or by in the sense of using something as a source of information.

So לפי המפה means according to the map or based on the map.

It does not mean physical location, like next to the map. It is about information or evidence.

Examples:

• לפי החדשות = according to the news
• לפי החוק = according to the law

The phrase לפי המפה is an introductory phrase at the beginning of the sentence, so a comma is natural:

לפי המפה, הבנק קרוב לתחנה.

It works a lot like English:

• According to the map, the bank is close to the station.

In everyday Hebrew, especially informal writing, people may sometimes leave out commas, but the comma here is normal and helpful.

In Hebrew, the present tense of to be is usually omitted.

So:

• הבנק קרוב לתחנה literally looks like
• the bank close to the station

but it means

• the bank is close to the station

This is completely normal Hebrew.

Compare:

• הבנק היה קרוב לתחנה = the bank was close to the station
• הבנק יהיה קרוב לתחנה = the bank will be close to the station

In the present tense, Hebrew usually just leaves is/am/are out.

Because קרוב agrees with הבנק, and בנק is a masculine singular noun.

So:

• בנק = masculine singular
• therefore קרוב = masculine singular form of close/near

If the noun were feminine, you would use קרובה:

• המסעדה קרובה לתחנה = the restaurant is close to the station

If it were plural:

• הבנקים קרובים לתחנה = the banks are close to the station

Here קרוב is an adjective meaning close or near.

It is being used predicatively, which means it describes the subject after it:

• הבנק קרוב לתחנה = the bank is close to the station

So it behaves like an adjective, and that is why it changes for gender and number:

• קרוב masculine singular
• קרובה feminine singular
• קרובים masculine plural
• קרובות feminine plural

Because קרוב normally goes with the preposition ל־, meaning to:

• קרוב ל... = close to ...
• רחוק מ... = far from ...

So:

• קרוב לתחנה = close to the station

This ל־ does not show movement here. It is just the preposition required after קרוב.

So this is similar to English close to:

• close to the station not
• close the station

In unvocalized Hebrew spelling, לתחנה can be ambiguous.

It can represent:

• לְתחנה = to a station
• לַתחנה = to the station

In this sentence, the meaning is almost certainly to the station because the context suggests a specific station.

This is very common in Hebrew writing without vowel marks: the exact form is often understood from context.

The prefix ה־ is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• מפה = a map
• המפה = the map

and:

• בנק = a bank
• הבנק = the bank

Hebrew attaches the directly to the beginning of the noun instead of writing it as a separate word.

It actually can, but the spelling hides it.

When the preposition ל־ combines with the definite article ה־, they merge:

• ל + ה becomes לַ

So לתחנה can stand for לַתחנה, meaning to the station.

Because modern Hebrew usually leaves out vowel marks, you just see לתחנה on the page. That is why it may not look obviously definite at first.

Yes. Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, especially with introductory phrases.

This sentence begins with:

• לפי המפה = according to the map

That puts the source of information first.

You could also say:

• הבנק קרוב לתחנה לפי המפה

But לפי המפה, הבנק קרוב לתחנה sounds very natural if you want to set up the frame first, like according to the map...

A normal pronunciation would be:

lefi ha-mapa, ha-bank karov la-tachana

A few notes:

• לפי = lefi
• המפה = ha-mapa
• הבנק = ha-bank
• קרוב = karov
• לתחנה is often understood here as la-tachana

Even if you see the same spelling לתחנה, the pronunciation can reflect whether it means to a station or to the station. Context tells you which one is intended.