A gyógyszertár a kórház mellett van.

The pharmacy is next to the hospital.

Breakdown of A gyógyszertár a kórház mellett van.

• lenni: to be
• mellett: next to
• kórház: the hospital
• gyógyszertár: the pharmacy

Questions & Answers about A gyógyszertár a kórház mellett van.

Why is there an a before both gyógyszertár and kórház?

Hungarian uses the definite article a/az much like English the.

• A gyógyszertár = the pharmacy (a specific one in the context)
• a kórház mellett = next to the hospital (a specific hospital in the context)
  You’d use the indefinite article egy (a/an) if you mean a non-specific one: Egy gyógyszertár a kórház mellett van. = A pharmacy is next to the hospital.

Why is it a and not az?

a is used before consonant sounds; az is used before vowel sounds.

• a kórház (k = consonant)
• but: az iskola (i = vowel)

Is gyógyszertár the subject here? Why doesn’t it have any ending?

Yes, A gyógyszertár is the subject (the pharmacy). In Hungarian, the subject normally has no case ending (it’s in the “basic” form).
Case endings show roles like “to/at/in/from,” but the subject usually doesn’t need one.

What is mellett exactly—an ending or a separate word?

mellett is a postposition (like a preposition, but it comes after the noun).
So a kórház mellett literally means the hospital next-to → next to the hospital.

Why doesn’t kórház take a case ending for “next to”?

Because mellett itself carries the “next to” meaning, so kórház stays in its basic form:

• a kórház mellett = next to the hospital
  Some other location meanings use case endings instead (e.g., kórházban = in the hospital), but mellett is built as a postposition phrase.

Can mellett change form (like “next to me/you”)?

Yes. With pronouns, Hungarian usually attaches personal endings to it:

• mellettem = next to me
• melletted = next to you
• mellette = next to him/her/it
• mellettünk / mellettetek / mellettük = next to us / you (pl.) / them

Why is van included? I heard Hungarian often drops “is.”

Hungarian often drops van (“is”) in 3rd person present when linking a subject to a noun/adjective:

• A gyógyszertár nagy. = The pharmacy is big. (no van)
  But for location/existence, Hungarian typically uses van:
• A gyógyszertár a kórház mellett van. = The pharmacy is next to the hospital.

Could I omit van here?

In everyday Hungarian, you’ll sometimes hear shortened forms, but the neutral, standard sentence for location is with van.
If you omit it (A gyógyszertár a kórház mellett.), it sounds incomplete or very elliptical (like a fragment), except in very specific contexts.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say it differently?

Hungarian word order is flexible and depends on what you emphasize. This version is neutral:

• A gyógyszertár a kórház mellett van. (topic: the pharmacy)
  Other common orders:
• A kórház mellett van a gyógyszertár. (emphasizes the location: It’s next to the hospital that the pharmacy is.)

How do I pronounce these long accented vowels (like gyó, szertár, kór)? Do the accents change stress?

The accents mainly mark vowel length (and sometimes vowel quality), not stress. Hungarian stress is usually on the first syllable of the word:

• GYÓ-gy-szer-tár
• KÓR-ház
  The accented vowels (ó, á) are longer than o, a.

What’s the difference between mellett and something like kórháznál?

They express different relations:

• a kórház mellett = next to/beside the hospital (physically adjacent)
• a kórháznál = at the hospital (at/near it as a place; not necessarily “right next to” the building)

How would this change in plural (e.g., “The pharmacies are next to the hospital”)?

You’d pluralize the subject and use vannak (plural of van):

• A gyógyszertárak a kórház mellett vannak. = The pharmacies are next to the hospital.