Van khóa ở bên đồng hồ nước.

Van khóa means a shut-off valve or stop valve, especially in plumbing.

• van = valve
• khóa = to lock / shut off

So together, van khóa is the valve used to stop the flow of water. In real life, people may also say van nước, khóa nước, or van khóa nước, depending on region and situation.

In this sentence, đồng hồ nước means water meter.

Although đồng hồ often means clock or watch, it can also mean a meter or gauge in the right context. When you add nước = water, the meaning becomes water meter.

So this is a good example of a Vietnamese compound where the full meaning depends on the whole phrase, not just the most common meaning of one word.

Vietnamese often does not use a verb like to be in location sentences the way English does.

The pattern here is:

noun + ở + location

So:

• Van khóa = the shut-off valve
• ở bên đồng hồ nước = by / beside the water meter

This naturally gives the meaning The shut-off valve is by the water meter.

In other words, ở is doing the work of expressing location, so a separate word for is is usually unnecessary.

Ở marks location: at, in, on, by bên means side or beside

Together, ở bên đồng hồ nước means something like:

• at the side of the water meter
• beside the water meter
• by the water meter

In natural English, by or beside is usually the best translation.

They are very close, but bên cạnh is a little more explicit.

• bên = side / by
• bên cạnh = next to / right beside

So this sentence could also be said as:

Van khóa ở bên cạnh đồng hồ nước.

That version may sound clearer to many learners because bên cạnh strongly suggests physical closeness.

Vietnamese commonly puts the thing being talked about first, then says where it is.

So the structure is:

thing + location

Here:

Van khóa + ở bên đồng hồ nước

This is the most straightforward way to say The shut-off valve is by the water meter.

If you start with the location, the sentence often changes structure and emphasis. For example:

Ở bên đồng hồ nước có van khóa.

That means something more like There is a shut-off valve by the water meter.

Vietnamese does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually understood from context. So van khóa could mean:

• a shut-off valve
• the shut-off valve

In this sentence, the context probably makes it clear that a specific valve is meant, so English naturally uses the.

Classifiers are not always required in Vietnamese.

In a simple statement like this, speakers often just say the noun directly:

Van khóa ở bên đồng hồ nước.

A classifier like cái is more likely when:

• counting
• pointing something out
• adding emphasis
• making the noun phrase more conversational in certain contexts

For example, you might hear:

Cái van khóa ở bên đồng hồ nước.

But without a classifier is perfectly normal here.

Yes, it is the same basic idea.

khóa often means to lock, to shut, or to close off. In plumbing vocabulary, that idea extends to a valve that shuts off water flow.

So even if you already know khóa from words like:

• khóa cửa = lock the door
• ổ khóa = lock

the meaning here is related: it is the valve that can close off the water.

Yes, it is understandable and natural enough, especially in practical conversation about household plumbing or utilities.

A few other natural variants are:

• Van khóa ở cạnh đồng hồ nước.
• Van khóa ở bên cạnh đồng hồ nước.
• Van nước ở cạnh đồng hồ nước.

Different speakers may choose slightly different wording, but the grammar pattern stays the same: name the object first, then say where it is.