Sklep jest niedaleko.

• sklep = shop / store
• jest = is
• niedaleko = not far / nearby

So grammatically it is very close to The shop is not far or The shop is nearby.

Polish does not have articles like a, an, or the.

So sklep can mean:

• a shop
• the shop

The exact meaning depends on context. In a real conversation, the listener usually already knows whether you mean a specific shop or just any shop.

Jest is the 3rd person singular form of być (to be), so it means is.

In standard neutral Polish, Sklep jest niedaleko is perfectly natural.

In casual speech, Polish sometimes omits forms of to be, especially in the present tense, so you may also hear:

• Sklep niedaleko.

But for learners, Sklep jest niedaleko is the safest full sentence to use.

Niedaleko literally means not far. In many contexts, that naturally becomes nearby or close by in English.

It is similar to blisko, which means near / close.

Compare:

• Sklep jest niedaleko. = The shop is not far / The shop is nearby.
• Sklep jest blisko. = The shop is close / near.

The difference is small:

• blisko sounds more directly like close
• niedaleko sounds more like not far

Both are common and natural.

In modern Polish, niedaleko is normally written as one word when it means not far / nearby.

So:

• correct: niedaleko
• not standard in this meaning: nie daleko

For learners, the best rule is simply to memorize niedaleko as a fixed word.

Yes. Sklep is a masculine noun.

It matters because Polish verbs and adjectives often agree with the noun in gender and number. Here, jest is just the singular is, so there is no visible gender difference in the verb form.

But if you changed the subject, you would see number differences:

• Sklep jest niedaleko. = The shop is nearby.
• Sklepy są niedaleko. = The shops are nearby.

So gender is part of the noun’s grammar, but in this sentence the most obvious agreement feature is singular number.

Yes. Niedaleko can be used with a noun in the genitive case.

For example:

• Mieszkam niedaleko sklepu. = I live not far from the shop.
• To jest niedaleko centrum. = It is not far from the center.

Notice:

• sklep → sklepu
• centrum stays centrum in the genitive because it is a neuter noun with that form

So after niedaleko, Polish often uses the genitive to express not far from ...

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order is:

• Sklep jest niedaleko.

But you may also hear:

• Niedaleko jest sklep.
• Sklep niedaleko jest. — possible, but less neutral and more marked

Changing word order usually changes emphasis rather than basic meaning.

For learners, Sklep jest niedaleko is the best standard version.

The easiest way is to add czy at the beginning:

• Czy sklep jest niedaleko? = Is the shop nearby?

In speech, intonation can also make it a question:

• Sklep jest niedaleko?

But czy is very useful and clear for learners.

The opposite idea is far:

• Sklep jest daleko. = The shop is far away.

If you want to negate the original sentence directly, you can say:

• Sklep nie jest niedaleko. = The shop is not nearby / not close

However, in normal speech, Polish speakers will often just say:

• Sklep jest daleko.

That is usually simpler and more natural.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

nyeh-da-LE-ko

A few helpful points:

• nie often sounds roughly like nye
• stress in Polish usually falls on the second-to-last syllable, so here the stress is on LE
• rz, sz, cz-type sounds do not appear here, so this word is relatively easy to pronounce

So the whole sentence can be approximated as:

sklep yest nyeh-da-LE-ko

Yes. Sklep is a general word for a place where things are sold, so in English it can be translated as:

• shop
• store

Which English word sounds best depends on the variety of English:

• shop is often more natural in British English
• store is often more natural in American English

Both are good translations.

Yes, very natural.

A Polish speaker would readily understand:

• Sklep jest niedaleko.

Depending on the situation, they might also say:

• Sklep jest blisko.
• To niedaleko. = It’s not far.
• Sklep jest tu niedaleko. = The shop is nearby / The shop is not far from here.

So the sentence is simple, correct, and common in everyday use.