Phòng khám ở gần bệnh viện.

It follows a very common Vietnamese pattern:

subject + location expression

• Phòng khám = clinic
• ở = to be located at / in
• gần bệnh viện = near the hospital

So the sentence is literally something like:

clinic + be located + near hospital

Vietnamese does not use to be in exactly the same way English does.

In location sentences, Vietnamese often uses ở to show where something is. So ở already does the job of expressing location, and you do not need an extra word equivalent to English is.

That is why Phòng khám ở gần bệnh viện is a complete sentence.

Here, ở means to be located at / in.

It is a very common Vietnamese word that can also mean to live or to stay, depending on context. In this sentence, it is specifically marking location.

So ở gần bệnh viện means is located near the hospital.

Yes, you often can say Phòng khám gần bệnh viện.

• gần = near
• ở helps make the sentence clearly locational

So:

• Phòng khám ở gần bệnh viện = the clinic is located near the hospital
• Phòng khám gần bệnh viện = the clinic is near the hospital

Both are natural. The version with ở can sound slightly fuller or more explicitly about location.

Because là is usually used for identity or definition, not location.

For example:

• Đây là bệnh viện = This is a hospital.

But for saying where something is, Vietnamese normally uses ở, not là.

So Phòng khám là gần bệnh viện is not correct.

Vietnamese usually does not use articles the way English does.

So:

• phòng khám can mean a clinic or the clinic
• bệnh viện can mean a hospital or the hospital

The exact meaning depends on context.

If you want to be more specific, Vietnamese can add other words, such as:

• một phòng khám = a clinic
• phòng khám này = this clinic
• bệnh viện đó = that hospital

• Phòng khám usually means clinic or doctor’s office
• Bệnh viện means hospital

A phòng khám is generally smaller and often for outpatient visits. A bệnh viện is a larger medical facility.

So the sentence is talking about a clinic being near a hospital.

Sometimes, yes, because phòng means room.

But phòng khám is also a very common fixed expression meaning clinic. In a sentence like this, where it is treated as a place near a hospital, clinic is the most likely meaning.

So learners should understand it as a vocabulary item, not just as room + examine.

A rough learner-friendly guide is:

• phòng ≈ fawng with a low falling tone
• khám ≈ kham with a rising tone
• ở ≈ a short uh/er sound with a dipping tone
• gần ≈ guhn with a low falling tone
• bệnh ≈ baynh with a heavy low tone
• viện ≈ vee-uhn with a heavy low tone

A few helpful sound notes:

• ph sounds like English f
• kh is a back-of-the-mouth sound, not exactly English k
• tones are very important in Vietnamese

Pronunciation will vary by dialect, but those points will help you get close.

To make it negative, use không:

• Phòng khám không ở gần bệnh viện = The clinic is not near the hospital.

To make it a yes-no question, you can say:

• Phòng khám ở gần bệnh viện không?
• Phòng khám có ở gần bệnh viện không?

Both mean:

Is the clinic near the hospital?