Fósturheimilið er nálægt.

It is a compound noun:

• fóstur = foster
• heimili = home
• -ið = the suffixed definite article, so the

So fósturheimilið means the foster home.

Icelandic makes a lot of compound words, and they are usually written as one word.

Because Icelandic very often puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

So:

• heimili = home
• heimilið = the home

The same pattern applies to the compound:

• fósturheimili = foster home
• fósturheimilið = the foster home

So there is no separate word for the in this sentence.

It is neuter singular nominative.

Why?

• heimili is a neuter noun.
• In a compound, the final part usually determines the gender, so fósturheimili is also neuter.
• Here it is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

So fósturheimilið is the nominative singular definite form.

Er is the present-tense singular form of vera, the verb to be.

So:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

Since fósturheimilið is a singular subject, Icelandic uses er = is.

Here nálægt means near, close, or nearby.

In this sentence, the idea is:

• Fósturheimilið er nálægt.
• The foster home is nearby / is close.

The basic adjective is nálægur. The form nálægt is the neuter singular form, which fits a neuter singular subject like fósturheimilið.

Because the subject is neuter singular.

The adjective nálægur changes form depending on gender:

• masculine: nálægur
• feminine: nálæg
• neuter: nálægt

Since fósturheimilið is neuter singular, nálægt is the expected form.

This is a very common pattern in Icelandic:

• Húsið er stórt. = The house is big.
• Barnið er þreytt. = The child is tired.

Same idea here: Fósturheimilið er nálægt.

When you add the thing something is near, nálægt is commonly followed by the dative.

For example:

• Fósturheimilið er nálægt skólanum. = The foster home is near the school.
• Hann situr nálægt mér. = He is sitting near me.

So a useful pattern is:

• X er nálægt + dative

Yes. This is the basic, neutral Icelandic word order for a simple statement:

• subject + verb + complement
• Fósturheimilið + er + nálægt

So this sentence is completely standard and natural.

Icelandic can move things around for emphasis, style, or in questions, but this is the plain everyday order.

A rough learner-friendly guide is:

• Fósturheimilið: stress the first syllable, roughly FOHS-tur-hay-mi-lið
• er: roughly ehr
• nálægt: roughly NOW-lai(kh)t

A few helpful sound notes:

• ó sounds roughly like the vowel in go
• á sounds roughly like ow in now
• æ sounds roughly like the vowel in ice
• ð is a soft th sound, like in this
• the g in nálægt before t is a rough sound, similar to the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach

The main stress in Icelandic is usually on the first syllable of the word.