Breakdown of L'ospedale è lontano da qui.
essere
to be
qui
here
l'ospedale
the hospital
da
from, at (someone's place) / by (oneself), on one's own
Questions & Answers about L'ospedale è lontano da qui.
Why do we use da in lontano da?
The set phrase for "far from" is always lontano da. While many other location phrases you are learning right now use the preposition a (like vicino a or di fronte a), lontano specifically requires da (from).
Why isn't da combined with an article here, like dal or dalla?
We only combine prepositions with definite articles when a noun follows. Because qui (here) is an adverb and not a noun, it doesn't take an article. Therefore, da stays exactly as it is. If you were saying "far from the center", it would combine to become lontano dal centro.
Does lontano change its ending if the subject is feminine or plural?
Could I use qua instead of qui?