Learn English – Difference between “close” and “near”

adjectivesdifferencesmeaning

What is the difference between the adjectives close and near? Are they totally synonymous? Is there some nuance that I'm missing?

As a native speaker of Spanish, I can't see any difference, since both are translated to cercano.

Best Answer

Close and near can be used as adjectives, and in many cases they are the same when talking about physical distances.

The train station is close.
The train station is near.

They are not the same when talking about more abstract concepts, like relationships.

My mother is close [she is 3 feet away].
My mother and I are very close [we have a strong family bond].
My mother is near [she is 3 feet away].
My mother and I are very near [we are 3 feet apart].

Only near can be used as a preposition without the word to.

*We are close the train station.
We are close to the train station [correct: close to is the proposition].
We are near the train station [correct: near is the preposition].

When you convert to adverb form, they are not interchangeable at all. In this case, closely implies "at a small distance", while nearly implies "almost but not quite"

*We are nearly following the news.
We are closely following the news.

*I closely hurt myself.
I nearly hurt myself.

* incorrect usage

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