Lính ở gần cửa.

The soldier is near the door.

Breakdown of Lính ở gần cửa.

• ở: at
• gần: near
• cửa: the door
• lính: the soldier

Questions & Answers about Lính ở gần cửa.

Why is there no word for is/are in this sentence?

Vietnamese does not use là for physical location the way English uses is/are.

In Lính ở gần cửa, the word ở already expresses location, so the sentence is complete as it is.

• ở = to be at, stay at, be located at
• là = to be in the sense of identification/equation, as in Anh ấy là bác sĩ (He is a doctor)

So:

• Lính ở gần cửa = correct
• Lính là gần cửa = not correct

What does ở mean here exactly?

Here, ở means to be at / to be located at.

It can also mean to live in other contexts:

• Tôi ở Hà Nội can mean I live in Hanoi
• Anh ấy ở ngoài sân means He is outside in the yard

So in this sentence, ở is marking location, not residence.

Does lính mean soldier or soldiers?

It can mean either soldier or soldiers, depending on context.

Vietnamese nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural. So lính by itself is number-neutral.

If you want to make the number clear, Vietnamese can add other words:

• một người lính = one soldier
• những người lính = soldiers
• mấy người lính = several soldiers

So bare lính leaves it open unless the context tells you.