A kikötő közel van.

A is the Hungarian definite article, so it means the.

In A kikötő közel van, a kikötő = the harbor / the port.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before words that begin with a consonant
• az before words that begin with a vowel

So:

• a kikötő = the harbor
• az iskola = the school

Kikötő means harbor, port, or dock area, depending on context.

So the sentence could be understood as:

• The harbor is near.
• The port is nearby.

The exact English choice depends on the situation, but harbor/port is the basic meaning.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

kee-kur-tuh — but with rounded vowels that English does not really have.

More carefully:

• ki sounds like kee
• kö has ö, a rounded front vowel, somewhat like the vowel in French peu or German schön
• tő has long ő, which is like a longer version of ö

So kikötő is roughly kee-kö-tő.

Also note:

• ő is a long vowel
• Hungarian stress is usually on the first syllable, so: KIkötő

Yes. Van is the 3rd person singular form of lenni (to be), so here it means is.

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near.

However, Hungarian does not always use van where English uses is.

For example:

• A kikötő nagy. = The harbor is big.
  • No van

But with words of location or state like közel (near), van is normally used:

• A kikötő közel van.

So a learner often has to remember this as a pattern: közel van = is near.

Because közel van works together as the predicate: is near.

The structure is:

• A kikötő = subject
• közel van = predicate meaning is near

This word order is neutral and very common.

So:

• A kikötő közel van. = neutral statement: The harbor is near.

Hungarian word order can change for emphasis, but this version is the most straightforward one for learners.

In this sentence, közel behaves like a predicative word meaning near / nearby.

English learners often want a one-word label, but in Hungarian it is best to learn it by use:

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near.

When you want to put nearby directly before a noun, Hungarian often uses közeli instead:

• a közeli kikötő = the nearby harbor

So a useful contrast is:

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near.
• A közeli kikötő = the nearby harbor

Not in natural English. Hungarian and English organize this kind of sentence differently.

Word-by-word:

• A = the
• kikötő = harbor
• közel = near
• van = is

But the natural English translation is:

• The harbor is near.
• The harbor is nearby.

So it is better to understand the Hungarian pattern közel van as a unit meaning is near.

Yes, that is possible, but it changes the feel of the sentence.

• A kikötő közel van. = neutral, basic statement
• Közel van a kikötő. = puts more emphasis on near, something like The harbor is nearby or It’s the harbor that’s nearby, depending on context

For a beginner, A kikötő közel van is the safest neutral order to use.

Because this sentence is just saying that the harbor is near, without naming what it is near to.

If you want to say what it is near to, Hungarian usually adds that separately, often with -hoz / -hez / -höz:

• A kikötő közel van a szállodához.
• The harbor is near the hotel.

So the original sentence is more general:

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near / nearby.

Usually in a sentence like this, yes: it normally refers to physical location.

So:

• A kikötő közel van. most naturally means The harbor is nearby.

In other contexts, közel can also be used more abstractly, but for a beginner it is best to understand this sentence as talking about distance in space.

In this sentence, yes, if you mean the harbor.

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near.

If you leave out the article, the sentence would not mean the same thing and would sound incomplete or nonstandard in ordinary usage.

Hungarian often uses the definite article where English uses the, so this is a good sentence to memorize as a full pattern:

• A kikötő közel van.

You add nincs here, not nem van.

So:

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near.
• A kikötő nincs közel. = The harbor is not near.

This is a very important Hungarian pattern:

• van = is
• nincs = is not / there is not

So learners should memorize nincs közel as the natural negative form.

In speech, Hungarian often makes yes/no questions mainly with intonation:

• A kikötő közel van? = Is the harbor near?

The word order can stay the same. The rising question intonation does the work.

So this is a very useful pair:

• A kikötő közel van. = The harbor is near.
• A kikötő közel van? = Is the harbor near?