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Questions & Answers about Аптека справа.
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always left out. Instead of saying "The pharmacy is on the right," you simply say "Аптека (Pharmacy) справа (on the right)."
I've also seen the word направо for "right". Why use справа here?
Справа means "on the right" (talking about location), while направо means "to the right" (talking about direction or motion). Because the pharmacy is just located there and you aren't describing movement toward it, you must use the location word справа.
Could I switch the word order and say Справа аптека?
Yes, but it changes the emphasis! Russian puts the newest or most important information at the end of the sentence. Аптека справа answers "Where is the pharmacy?" (It's on the right). If you say Справа аптека, it answers "What is on the right?" (On the right is a pharmacy).
How do we know it means "the pharmacy" and not "a pharmacy"?
Russian doesn't have articles like "a" or "the". You have to figure it out from context and word order. Because Аптека is at the beginning of the sentence, it's treated as established information that the speaker and listener already know about, which makes it translate best as "the pharmacy."