Spitalul este aproape de blocul nostru.

The hospital is near our apartment building.

Breakdown of Spitalul este aproape de blocul nostru.

• a fi: to be
• nostru: our
• blocul: the apartment building
• spitalul: the hospital
• aproape de: close to

Questions & Answers about Spitalul este aproape de blocul nostru.

Why is it spitalul and not just spital?

Romanian usually attaches the definite article (the) to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front.

• spital = hospital
• spitalul = the hospital

So spitalul literally means “the hospital”.

Why is it blocul and not just bloc?

Same reason as with spitalul: the definite article is a suffix.

• bloc = block / apartment building
• blocul = the block / the apartment building

So blocul nostru means our block / our building, with blocul already containing the.

What gender are spital and bloc, and why do they take -ul?

Both spital and bloc are neuter nouns in Romanian.

Neuter nouns behave:

• like masculine in the singular
• like feminine in the plural

For masculine and neuter singular nouns, the definite article is usually -ul:

• spital → spitalul (the hospital)
• bloc → blocul (the block)

So they take -ul because they are neuter (masculine-like in the singular).

Why is it aproape de and not just aproape?

aproape means near / close, but to say near something you normally use aproape de + noun:

• aproape de casă = near (the) house
• aproape de oraș = near the city
• aproape de blocul nostru = near our block

Without de, aproape would sound incomplete in this kind of sentence.

Could I say Spitalul este lângă blocul nostru instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Spitalul este lângă blocul nostru.

aproape de = near, close to (not necessarily immediately next to)
lângă = right next to, beside

So:

• aproape de is a bit looser: in the vicinity of
• lângă suggests more physical adjacency: right by / next to

Why is it blocul nostru and not nostru blocul?

In Romanian, the normal order is:

noun + definite article + possessive adjective

So:

• blocul nostru = the block ours → our block
• cartea mea = the book my → my book
• mașina ta = the car your → your car

Putting nostru before the noun (nostru blocul) is wrong in standard Romanian.

Where is the word “our” in blocul nostru? Why do we need both -ul and nostru?

-ul is the, and nostru is our:

• blocul = the block
• nostru = our

Romanian normally uses both:

• blocul nostru = the block our → our block

So the full idea “our block” is split between the article suffix -ul (the) and the possessive nostru (our).

Why is it nostru and not something like noastră?

Romanian possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

• bloc is neuter (masculine-like in singular)
• masculine/neuter singular form of “our” is nostru

So:

• blocul nostru = our block (neuter sg.)
  Compare:
• casa noastră = our house (feminine sg.)
• copiii noștri = our children (masc. pl.)
• mașinile noastre = our cars (fem. pl.)

Here, nostru matches blocul in gender/number.

Can este be shortened? I’ve seen just e sometimes.

Yes. In everyday speech and informal writing, este is very often shortened to e:

• Spitalul e aproape de blocul nostru.

Both are correct; este is simply more formal/complete, e is more casual and very common.

Could the word order be different, like Spitalul este de blocul nostru aproape?

No, that would sound wrong.

The natural order here is:

Subject – Verb – Adverb – Prepositional phrase

• Spitalul (subject) este (verb) aproape (adverb) de blocul nostru (prep. phrase).

You cannot normally move aproape to the end like that. Keeping aproape de together before the noun phrase is the normal structure.

How would I turn this into a question: “Is the hospital near our block?”

Romanian can form yes/no questions just with intonation (rising tone) and the same word order:

• Spitalul este aproape de blocul nostru?

In spoken language, you’ll also very often hear:

• Spitalul e aproape de blocul nostru?

No extra word like “do” or “is” is needed; the structure stays the same, and your voice does the work.

How do you make this sentence plural, like “The hospitals are near our blocks”?

You need to pluralize both spitalul and blocul nostru:

• spitale = hospitals
• spitalele = the hospitals
• blocuri = blocks
• blocurile noastre = our blocks

So:

• Spitalele sunt aproape de blocurile noastre.
  = The hospitals are near our blocks.

Note the verb also changes:

• este (singular) → sunt (plural).

Why do we use de here and not la or din?

Different prepositions express different relations:

• aproape de = near, close to
  
  • Spitalul este aproape de blocul nostru.
• la = at / to (a point or destination)
  
  • Spitalul este la colț. = The hospital is at the corner.
• din = from / out of / of (origin or interior)
  
  • Vine din spital. = He/She comes from the hospital.

With aproape, the natural fixed expression is aproape de. Using la or din after aproape would be ungrammatical.