El rodillo está junto a la torneta.

Because Spanish uses estar for location.

When you say where a person or thing is, you normally use estar:

• El rodillo está en la mesa.
• La torneta está aquí.

By contrast, ser is used for identity, definition, origin, time, etc., not for physical location.

So El rodillo está junto a la torneta is correct, while es junto a la torneta is not.

Junto a means next to, beside, or right by.

It expresses physical closeness:

• El libro está junto a la lámpara.
• Me senté junto a ella.

It often suggests something is quite close, sometimes a bit closer than cerca de (near).

Because in this meaning, junto is normally used as part of the expression junto a.

So you say:

• junto a la torneta
• junto al coche
• junto a mí

Not junto la torneta.

You can think of junto a as a fixed prepositional phrase.

Because torneta is feminine: la torneta.

In Spanish, a + el contracts to al:

• junto al rodillo = junto a el rodillo → contracted

But a + la does not contract:

• junto a la torneta

So:

• junto al rodillo
• junto a la torneta

Spanish uses articles more often than English.

In English, you might sometimes say rolling pin is next to the wheel only in a very special context, but Spanish usually wants the article:

• el rodillo
• la torneta

Here, the sentence is talking about specific, identifiable objects, so the definite articles are natural.

• rodillo is masculine: el rodillo
• torneta is feminine: la torneta

This matters because articles and adjectives must agree with the noun:

• el rodillo pequeño
• la torneta pequeña

A useful general pattern is that many nouns ending in -o are masculine and many ending in -a are feminine, though there are exceptions in Spanish overall.

Yes. Al lado de is a very common alternative.

So you could also say:

• El rodillo está al lado de la torneta.

Both are natural. Very roughly:

• junto a = next to / beside
• al lado de = next to / at the side of

In many situations, they are interchangeable.

No, Spanish word order is fairly flexible.

The most neutral order is:

• El rodillo está junto a la torneta.

But you can move parts around for emphasis:

• Junto a la torneta está el rodillo.

That version sounds more marked or descriptive, as if you are focusing first on the location.

For everyday use, the original order is the safest and most natural.

The accent mark shows the stress: es-TÁ.

It also helps distinguish está (from the verb estar) from esta, which can be a demonstrative/determiner in some contexts, such as esta mesa (this table).

So the accent is important both for pronunciation and for spelling correctly.

A simple approximation is:

• rodillo → ro-DEE-yo
• está → es-TA
• junto → HOON-to or KHOON-to depending on how you approximate the Spanish j
• torneta → tor-NE-ta

A few useful notes:

• The r in rodillo is a light tapped r, not a strong English r.
• The ll in most of Spain sounds like y in yes.
• The j in junto is a throaty Spanish sound, not like English j in jam.

Not really. Torneta is a more specialized word, especially in pottery or ceramics contexts.

A learner might know common words like mesa, coche, or puerta much earlier, but torneta is more technical. In Spain, it can refer to a small turntable used in ceramics.

So if this sentence appears in a lesson, it is probably teaching vocabulary from a specific context, not everyday conversation.