Nhà tôi gần siêu thị.

My house is near the supermarket.

Breakdown of Nhà tôi gần siêu thị.

• tôi: I
• là: to be
• nhà: the house
• siêu thị: the supermarket
• gần: near

Questions & Answers about Nhà tôi gần siêu thị.

Why is there no là (to be) in Nhà tôi gần siêu thị?

Vietnamese often drops the copula in locative or descriptive sentences. Here, gần (“near”) already links your house and the supermarket, so you don’t need—and in fact cannot insert—là.

• Incorrect: Nhà tôi là gần siêu thị.
• If you do want a verb, you could add ở (see next question), but never là.

Is gần a verb or a preposition?

gần is a relational word that functions like a preposition in English: it shows spatial relationship.

• You can think of it as “to be near.”
• Structure: Subject + gần
  • Place.
• It’s not a full action verb (you don’t “do” gần something), but it behaves syntactically like a preposition.

Can I add ở and say Nhà tôi ở gần siêu thị?

Yes. Adding ở (“to be at/in”) makes the locative relation explicit and is very common in speech:

• Nhà tôi ở gần siêu thị. = “My house is near the supermarket.”
• Without ở, the sentence is still correct; with ở, it feels a bit more conversational.

Why is it nhà tôi rather than nhà của tôi?

In Vietnamese possessive structures, you can either use the particle của or simply place the pronoun after the noun:

• nhà của tôi = house + of + me
• nhà tôi = house + me
  Both mean “my house,” but nhà tôi is shorter and more colloquial. nhà của tôi can feel more formal or emphatic.

What’s the difference between gần and cách when talking about distance?

• gần = “near,” implying proximity without specifying exact distance.
• cách = “to be X (distance) away,” always followed by a measure:
  • A cách B 10 mét = “A is 10 meters from B.”
  You cannot say A cách B without a number and unit.

Does nhà tôi ever mean “my family” instead of “my house”?

Yes. In context nhà tôi can also mean “my family” or “my household.”

• To be clear about a building, use context or add khách (e.g., nhà của tôi or mention “building”).
• To say “my family,” you can also use gia đình tôi.

Could I swap the word order and say Gần siêu thị nhà tôi?

No, that word order is ungrammatical for a simple locative statement.

• Standard: Subject (nhà tôi) + gần
  • locative noun (siêu thị).
• You can topicalize or invert for stylistic reasons, but colloquially you’d still say Nhà tôi gần siêu thị.

How do I pronounce siêu thị, and what do the diacritics do?

• siêu [siə̌w] – the letters iê form the vowel /iə/, and the acute tone on u (sắc) gives a rising pitch.
• thị [tʰìː] – ị has a dot (nặng tone) producing a short, low, glottalized sound.
Approximation in English: “see-EW (rising) TEE (low, glottal).” Practice with a native speaker or audio tool to master the tones.