La cómoda encaja mejor junto a la ventana que al lado de la puerta.

Yes, cómoda can mean comfortable, but in this sentence it is a noun, not an adjective.

Here, la cómoda means the chest of drawers / dresser.

Why it is clearly a noun here:

• it has the article la
• it is the thing doing the action: encaja mejor
• the context is furniture placement in a room

So in this sentence, la cómoda is definitely a piece of furniture.

Spanish usually uses an article with a noun when referring to a specific object.

So:

• la cómoda = the dresser
• una cómoda = a dresser

Leaving out the article would sound unnatural in this kind of sentence. Spanish uses articles more often than English does.

Encaja is from the verb encajar.

Here it means something like:

• fits
• works well
• suits the space
• goes better in that position

So this is not only about physical size. It can also suggest that the dresser seems more suitable or appropriate there.

Mejor means better, and it is the natural word to use with a verb like encajar.

So:

• encaja bien = it fits well
• encaja mejor = it fits better

Spanish does not normally say encaja más bien for this meaning. Más bien usually means something more like rather or more accurately.

Because this is a comparison.

The structure is:

mejor ... que ... = better ... than ...

So:

• junto a la ventana = next to the window
• que al lado de la puerta = than next to the door

It is comparing two possible locations for the dresser.

They are very similar. Both usually mean:

• next to
• beside

In many situations, they are interchangeable.

A rough nuance:

• junto a can sound a little more direct or slightly more formal/written
• al lado de is very common and neutral in everyday speech

In this sentence, using both helps avoid repetition. Saying the same phrase twice would sound less elegant.

Because those are fixed expressions, and each one takes a different preposition:

• junto a + noun
• al lado de + noun

So you have to learn them as complete chunks:

• junto a la ventana
• al lado de la puerta

This is very common in Spanish prepositional phrases.

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a + el lado → al lado

This contraction is required.

Compare:

• junto a la ventana → no contraction, because a + la does not contract
• al lado de la puerta → contraction, because a + el becomes al

Yes, that would be very natural.

There is a small nuance:

• encaja mejor suggests it fits better in that space or arrangement
• queda mejor often suggests it looks better there

In real use, the meanings overlap a lot, especially when talking about furniture placement.

So both are good, but:

• encajar = fit, suit, work well
• quedar = look, appear, end up looking

No, Spanish allows some flexibility, but the original order is very natural and neutral.

Original:

• La cómoda encaja mejor junto a la ventana que al lado de la puerta.

You could also say:

• Junto a la ventana, la cómoda encaja mejor que al lado de la puerta.

That version gives a bit more emphasis to junto a la ventana.

So the original sentence is a standard, natural way to say it.

Because Spanish normally uses the definite article with these nouns in this kind of context:

• la ventana
• la puerta

English often says next to the window and next to the door, so this matches quite closely here.

The article is part of the normal noun phrase after the preposition:

• junto a la ventana
• al lado de la puerta

Yes. The stress is on the first syllable:

CÓ-mo-da

The written accent mark on ó shows that stress clearly.

This matters because Spanish spelling often tells you where the stress goes, and the accent mark helps you pronounce the word correctly.