Объект находится рядом.

Yes, объект is masculine singular.

One clue is that it ends in a consonant, and nouns ending in a consonant are very often masculine in Russian. Because the subject is masculine singular, the verb also appears in the 3rd person singular form: находится.

So the grammar is:

• объект = masculine singular noun
• находится = is located, agreeing with a singular subject

The infinitive is находиться.

This verb means to be located, to be situated, or sometimes more literally to be found in a place.

In this sentence:

• объект находится = the object is located

A few present-tense forms are:

• я нахожусь
• ты находишься
• он / она / оно находится
• мы находимся
• вы находитесь
• они находятся

Both are possible, but they sound a little different.

• Объект рядом = shorter, more conversational, more direct
• Объект находится рядом = more explicit, a bit more formal or neutral, like The object is located nearby

So находится adds a sense of location rather than just simple description.

Russian usually does not use a present-tense form of to be the way English does.

So a sentence like:

• Объект рядом

already means The object is nearby.

In your sentence, Russian uses the full lexical verb находиться instead:

• Объект находится рядом

That does not mean Russian is adding a separate word for is. It means Russian is using a different verb: to be located.

Here рядом is an adverb meaning nearby, close, or close by.

So it answers the question where?

• Где находится объект?
  Рядом.

In this sentence, рядом stands alone, so it means simply nearby, without naming what it is near.

Good question. Рядом can work in two ways:

1. By itself, as an adverb:

   • Объект находится рядом.
   • The object is nearby.

2. As part of рядом с + instrumental, meaning next to / beside:

   • Объект находится рядом с домом.
   • The object is next to the house.

So in your sentence, there is no noun after рядом because the sentence only says nearby, not near something specific.

When рядом is followed by a noun, it normally takes с plus the instrumental case:

• рядом с домом
• рядом с машиной
• рядом с объектом

This is just the standard pattern in Russian:

• рядом
  • с
    • instrumental

So you should think of it as a fixed structure.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible.

These are all possible:

• Объект находится рядом.
• Рядом находится объект.
• Находится рядом объект. — possible, but less neutral

The most neutral version is Объект находится рядом.

If you put рядом first, you often give a little more focus to the location:

• Рядом находится объект = Nearby, there is an object or An object is located nearby

Yes, находиться is a -ся verb.

Historically, -ся comes from a reflexive element, but in modern Russian you should usually learn находиться as a whole verb with its own meaning: to be located.

In other words, do not try to translate it piece by piece every time. In this sentence, it simply means:

• находится = is located

The stress is:

• объе́кт
• нахо́дится
• ря́дом

So the full sentence is pronounced approximately:

• объе́кт нахо́дится ря́дом

A useful thing to notice is that Russian stress is unpredictable, so it is worth learning each stressed form with the word.

They are similar, and both can suggest nearness, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• рядом often means nearby, close by, or right next to
• близко means close, often in a more general sense

Examples:

• Объект находится рядом. = The object is nearby.
• Объект находится близко. = The object is close.

Also, рядом с + instrumental is a very common fixed pattern for next to:

• рядом с домом

You cannot replace that structure directly with близко in the same way.