Apótekið er til hægri við bankann.

Word by word:

• Apótekið = the pharmacy
• er = is
• til hægri = to/on the right
• við = by / next to / relative to; here it helps give the meaning to the right of
• bankann = the bank

So the whole sentence means The pharmacy is to the right of the bank.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

So:

• apótek = pharmacy
• apótekið = the pharmacy

and

• banki = bank
• bankann = the bank in this sentence's case form

This is very common in Icelandic. English says the pharmacy, but Icelandic often says the equivalent of pharmacy-the.

Because við takes the accusative case, and that changes the form of the noun.

For banki:

• bankinn = the bank in the nominative (subject form)
• bankann = the bank in the accusative

In this sentence, bankann comes after the preposition við, so it must be in the accusative.

A very useful thing to remember is:

• subject often uses nominative
• after many prepositions, nouns change form

Because they are doing different jobs in the sentence.

• Apótekið is the subject: it is the thing being talked about, so it is in the nominative
• bankann comes after við, so it is in the accusative

So the different endings are not random; they show grammatical role.

Til hægri is a common expression meaning to the right or on the right.

It is best learned as a set phrase, just like:

• til vinstri = to the left

So:

• Apótekið er til hægri við bankann = The pharmacy is to the right of the bank
• Apótekið er til vinstri við bankann = The pharmacy is to the left of the bank

Even if English uses of here, Icelandic uses this fixed expression plus við.

Yes, við can mean different things depending on context. Icelandic prepositions often have several related meanings.

Here, við is part of a location expression and means something like:

• by
• next to
• in relation to

In this sentence, til hægri við bankann means to the right of the bank.

So although við can sometimes be translated as with, you should not expect one Icelandic preposition to match one English preposition every time.

Because Icelandic builds this idea differently from English.

English says:

• to the right of the bank

Icelandic says:

• til hægri við bankann

So instead of using a direct equivalent of English of, Icelandic uses:

• the fixed phrase til hægri
• plus the preposition við
• plus the accusative noun bankann

This is a very normal difference between languages: the meaning matches, but the grammar does not line up word for word.

The given word order is the most straightforward and natural:

• Apótekið er til hægri við bankann.

That is basically:

• subject + verb + place expression

Icelandic word order can change more than English in some contexts, especially for emphasis, but for a learner, this is the safest standard pattern to use.

So yes, other orders may be possible in special contexts, but this sentence is the normal version to learn first.

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• Icelandic stress usually falls on the first syllable of each word.
• ó is a long vowel sound, roughly like o in go.
• æ in hægri sounds roughly like eye.
• ð is like the th in this, though often lighter in Icelandic.
• hv, ll, nn, and some other combinations can have special pronunciations in Icelandic, so listening to native audio is very helpful.

A rough learner-friendly approximation might be:

• AH-po-teh-kith er til HIGH-ri vith BANK-an

That is only approximate, but it can help you get started.

You would remove the definite ending from apótekið:

• Apótek er til hægri við bankann.

So:

• apótek = a pharmacy / pharmacy
• apótekið = the pharmacy

Likewise, if you wanted a bank instead of the bank, you would change bankann to the indefinite accusative form:

• banka

So:

• Apótekið er til hægri við banka. = The pharmacy is to the right of a bank

Just replace til hægri with til vinstri:

• Apótekið er til vinstri við bankann.

This is a very useful pair to memorize:

• til hægri = to the right
• til vinstri = to the left

It describes location, not movement.

It tells you where the pharmacy is:

• The pharmacy is to the right of the bank

It does not mean that the pharmacy is moving to the right.

This is worth noticing because expressions like til hægri may look directional to English speakers, but in a sentence like this they simply describe position.