Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A bolt közel van a házhoz.

a bolt = the shop, a specific shop that both speaker and listener can identify from context.
egy bolt = a shop, any shop, not a specific one.

In this sentence, A bolt közel van a házhoz, we are talking about a particular shop, so the definite article a is used.

Does bolt have a gender, like “he” or “she” in some languages?

No. Hungarian does not have grammatical gender.

bolt is just “shop”, without masculine/feminine/neuter.
Pronouns for things are generally az (that/it) or ez (this/it), not he or she.

Why do we need van here? Sometimes I see van omitted in Hungarian.

Hungarian often drops van (the present-tense “is”) in 3rd person singular when the predicate is a simple noun or adjective:

A bolt nagy. – “The shop (is) big.” (You normally say A bolt nagy, not A bolt van nagy.)
Péter tanár. – “Peter (is) a teacher.”

However, with adverbs and location-type expressions, van normally stays:

A bolt közel van a házhoz. – “The shop is near the house.”
A könyv az asztalon van. – “The book is on the table.”

So in A bolt közel van a házhoz, van is needed and natural.

What exactly does közel mean, and is it an adjective or an adverb?

Közel basically means “near / close”.

Grammatically it’s primarily an adverb / postposition-like word. You’ll often see it:

with van in sentences of location:
- A bolt közel van. – “The shop is nearby.”
with a noun phrase marked by -hoz/-hez/-höz:
- közel a házhoz – “near the house”

It can also be used in various expressions (e.g. túl közel – “too close”), but you can think of it mainly as nearby / close when describing location.

Why is it a házhoz and not just a ház?

Hungarian normally shows spatial relations using case endings / suffixes, not separate prepositions like English “to”, “at”, “in”, “on” etc.

ház – house
házhoz – to the house / toward the house / at the house’s vicinity

The suffix -hoz here expresses a kind of goal or proximity “to/at”. In the phrase közel van a házhoz, it means “is close to the house”.

If you said simply közel van a ház, it would sound incomplete or ungrammatical: the relationship “to the house” needs to be shown, and -hoz does that.

What does the ending -hoz on házhoz mean, and when do we use -hoz / -hez / -höz?

-hoz / -hez / -höz is a directional / proximity suffix, often translated as “to, towards, by, at” depending on context.

házhoz – to the house / at the house
baráthoz – to (my) friend / at (my) friend’s place
ablakhoz – to the window / by the window

Which variant you use depends on vowel harmony:

After back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú): use -hoz
- ház ➝ házhoz
After front unrounded vowels (e, é, i, í): use -hez
- kéz ➝ kézhez (to the hand)
After front rounded vowels (ö, ő, ü, ű): use -höz
- kör ➝ körhöz (to the circle)

So ház has a back vowel (á), so it takes -hoz: házhoz.

Is házhoz the same as saying “at the house”, “to the house”, or “near the house”?

-hoz/-hez/-höz by itself is directional / proximity “to, toward, at by”. The exact English preposition depends on the verb and context.

In A bolt közel van a házhoz, the “near” idea mainly comes from közel:

közel van a házhoz → “is near the house / is close to the house”

In other contexts:

Megyek a házhoz. – “I’m going to the house.”
Állj a házhoz közelebb! – “Stand closer to the house!”

So here, -hoz supports the idea “to/at the house”, and közel adds “near/close”.

How would I say “The shop is far from the house” using a similar structure?

You can use messze (“far”) and the suffix -tól/-től (“from”):

A bolt messze van a háztól. – “The shop is far from the house.”

Here:

messze – far
ház
- -tól – from the house (háztól, with a linking t)

Can the word order change? For example, can I say A bolt a házhoz közel van?

Yes. Hungarian word order is relatively flexible, and you can say:

A bolt közel van a házhoz.
A bolt a házhoz közel van.

Both are grammatically correct and mean essentially “The shop is near the house.”

Subtle differences:

A bolt közel van a házhoz. – more neutral, just stating the fact.
A bolt a házhoz közel van. – puts a bit more emphasis on “to the house” (as opposed to being near something else).

For most learners and in most contexts, you can treat them as equivalent.

Could I say A bolt közel a házhoz without van?

No, that sounds incomplete or wrong in standard Hungarian.

In this kind of location expression with an adverb (közel) and a case-marked noun (a házhoz), you normally need van:

✅ A bolt közel van a házhoz.
❌ A bolt közel a házhoz. (unnatural/incorrect as a normal sentence)

Remember: dropping van is mostly limited to when the predicate is a simple noun or adjective (tanár, nagy etc.), not this kind of adverbial phrase.

Is there another common way to say “near the house” in Hungarian?

Yes. Two very common options:

a házhoz közel – literally “close to the house”
- A bolt a házhoz közel van. – “The shop is near the house.”
a ház közelében – literally “in the vicinity of the house”
- A bolt a ház közelében van. – “The shop is near the house.”

All of these are natural:

A bolt közel van a házhoz.
A bolt a házhoz közel van.
A bolt a ház közelében van.

They differ slightly in structure, but all convey essentially the same idea.