Người tham gia ở gần quầy tiếp nhận.

Người tham gia is literally person participating or person who participates.

• người = person
• tham gia = to participate / to join in

So người tham gia is a very common way to say participant in Vietnamese.

This is a common Vietnamese pattern:

• người học = learner / student
• người dạy = teacher
• người xem = viewer
• người tham gia = participant

Vietnamese often builds nouns this way without needing a separate word like English -er or a relative clause like person who participates.

Vietnamese often does not use a verb like English is in location sentences.

In Người tham gia ở gần quầy tiếp nhận:

• Người tham gia = the participant
• ở = to be at / to be located at
• gần quầy tiếp nhận = near the reception desk

So ở is doing the job of expressing location. It is not just at in the English preposition sense; it can also function like be located at.

That is why you do not need a separate word for is here.

Here, ở marks location: to be at / to stay at / to be located at.

So:

• Người tham gia ở gần quầy tiếp nhận = The participant is near the reception desk.

You will often see ở in sentences about where someone or something is:

• Tôi ở nhà. = I am at home.
• Cô ấy ở văn phòng. = She is at the office.
• Nhà hàng ở gần đây. = The restaurant is nearby.

In this sentence, ở gần... means is near...

Yes, in many situations you can say just gần, but ở gần often sounds more complete and natural when stating location.

Compare:

• Người tham gia ở gần quầy tiếp nhận.
• Người tham gia gần quầy tiếp nhận.

Both can be understood, but the version with ở more clearly expresses is located near.

A rough way to think about it:

• ở gần = is near / located near
• gần by itself = near / close

In everyday speech, Vietnamese sometimes omits words that are understood from context, but learners are usually safer using ở gần in full sentences about location.

Quầy tiếp nhận means something like reception desk, check-in counter, or registration counter, depending on context.

Breakdown:

• quầy = counter, desk, booth
• tiếp nhận = receive, accept, take in, handle intake

So quầy tiếp nhận is literally a receiving counter/desk.

You often see quầy for service counters:

• quầy lễ tân = reception desk
• quầy thanh toán = checkout counter
• quầy thông tin = information desk

So here, quầy tiếp nhận refers to the desk where people are received, checked in, or registered.

It comes from a verb, but here it functions as part of the noun phrase quầy tiếp nhận.

Vietnamese often uses verbs after nouns to describe the function of something:

• phòng họp = meeting room
• máy giặt = washing machine
• quầy tiếp nhận = receiving/reception desk

So while tiếp nhận by itself means receive / admit / process, in this sentence it helps describe what kind of quầy it is.

Vietnamese usually does not use articles like English a, an, or the.

So Người tham gia can mean:

• a participant
• the participant
• sometimes even participants, depending on context

Likewise, quầy tiếp nhận can mean:

• a reception desk
• the reception desk

Context tells you which one is intended.

If Vietnamese speakers want to be more specific, they can add words such as:

• một người tham gia = a participant
• người tham gia đó = that participant
• quầy tiếp nhận này = this reception desk

But in many natural sentences, no article is needed.

By itself, it can be singular or generic, depending on context.

In this sentence, many learners will naturally read it as the participant or a participant, because the sentence talks about one location.

If you want to make plural explicit, Vietnamese can add words like:

• những người tham gia = participants
• các người tham gia = the participants / participants

Examples:

• Những người tham gia ở gần quầy tiếp nhận. = The participants are near the reception desk.

So Vietnamese nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural. Extra words show that when needed.

The word order is:

subject + location verb + location phrase

So:

• Người tham gia = subject
• ở = location verb
• gần quầy tiếp nhận = location phrase

Very literally:

• Participant + is located + near reception desk

This is normal Vietnamese sentence order. Vietnamese usually keeps modifiers after the main word they modify, so:

• quầy tiếp nhận = desk for receiving/reception
• ở gần quầy tiếp nhận = is near the reception desk

Yes, often you can.

Both are common:

• người tham gia
• người tham dự

They are similar, but there can be a slight nuance depending on context:

• tham gia often emphasizes taking part
• tham dự often emphasizes attending

In many event-related situations, both can mean participant or attendee. If the person is actively involved, tham gia may feel a bit broader. If the focus is simply on attendance at an event, tham dự is also very natural.

So a sentence like this could also be:

• Người tham dự ở gần quầy tiếp nhận.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• gần = near / close to
• bên cạnh = beside / next to

So:

• ở gần quầy tiếp nhận = near the reception desk
• ở bên cạnh quầy tiếp nhận = beside the reception desk

Bên cạnh usually suggests a more exact position, closer to right next to.
Gần is broader and can mean just not far from.

The original sentence is already natural, especially in written or neutral spoken Vietnamese.

Depending on context, people might also say:

• Người tham gia đang ở gần quầy tiếp nhận.
  = The participant is currently near the reception desk.

• Người tham gia ở gần quầy lễ tân.
  = The participant is near the reception desk/front desk.
  This may sound more natural if you specifically mean a hotel or office reception desk.

• Có một người tham gia ở gần quầy tiếp nhận.
  = There is a participant near the reception desk.
  This is useful if you are introducing new information.

So the original sentence is good, but Vietnamese offers several natural variants depending on what you want to emphasize.

A few pronunciation points that often help English speakers:

• người: this can be tricky because of the ng beginning and the ươi vowel combination.
• tham gia: fairly straightforward, but remember gia sounds more like za/ya depending on accent.
• ở: short word, but it has a tone, so do not flatten it.
• gần: the â is a short central vowel, not like English a in cat.
• quầy: starts with qu, which in modern Vietnamese is pronounced like w plus the vowel in many contexts.
• nhận: the nh is like the ny sound in canyon, and it also has a tone plus a final stop.

The biggest general advice is: Vietnamese tones matter a lot. Even if your consonants and vowels are only approximate, getting the tone closer will help comprehension.

Yes. It can describe a current location, especially if the context already makes that clear.

However, if you want to stress that this is happening right now, Vietnamese often adds đang:

• Người tham gia đang ở gần quầy tiếp nhận.

That means:

• The participant is currently near the reception desk.

Without đang, the sentence can still mean that in context; it is just a more neutral statement of location.