# near to or near



## bthere

Hello,

I wanted to know if you say near my house or near to my house, or both. There are more examples near me or near to me.
If you can say near or near to, when do you use that?

Thank you for your help!


----------



## Loque Elviento Sellevo

I believe it is grammatically correct to say "*near my house*" or "*close to my house*."  People say "near to my house," but I believe that is technically incorrect.  That "to" goes with the word "close," not "near."


----------



## Bilbo Baggins

Yes, because near already means "close to", adding the "to" is unnecessary.


----------



## roanheads

bthere said:


> Hello,
> 
> I wanted to know if you say near my house or near to my house, or both. There are more examples near me or near to me.
> If you can say near or near to, when do you use that?
> 
> Thank you for your help!


 
When "near" is used as an adverb, it is used as follows,

"He lives quite near. "
" So near and yet so far."

But , used as a preposition, "near" or "near to " are grammatically equal,
Although " near to " sounds a little more cumbersome.
I live near Madrid = I live near to Madrid.

Anyway, folks, thats how they taught me !

Si lo quieres en español, dímelo.
Un saludo.


----------



## bthere

So, according to this is it correct to say near me?


----------



## roanheads

Sí es correcto.---- It is near me = it is near to me.
Son iguales ,. en realidad es cuestión de preferencia o costumbre.
Saludos.


----------



## mhp

Interesting. The superfluous TO is sometimes indispensable

  Don’t go any nearer to the edge
  We’re getting near to Christmas
  This is the nearest to what you want
  I came very near to hitting him


----------



## tablecloth

Are there any rules about when to use "near" and "near to"?
In fact, I'd like to know if anyone can think of an instance where the latter is not possible.
Thank you very much for your help.


----------



## nabuco85

To be honest, I don't believe that I ever hear people saying "near to" where I live in the United States. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I certainly have never heard it. 

_"Do you live near the school? Is it near here?"_ This sounds completely fine and natural to me; however, _"Do you live near to the school? Is it near to here?" _both sound off, and if I were to hear them on the street I would probably pause and ask myself if what I just heard was correct. I can really only think of using _"near to" _in a few chioce situations. _To come near to the right answer _or_ to come near to the original_.

Then again, for those last two I would be more likely to use _"close to"_ rather than _"near." _As a matter of fact, I would always the word _to_ with _close_. _"Do you live close to the school? Is it close to here? (or Is it close by?)"_ 

Well, in short, _near to_ almost always sounds unnatural to me, whereas _close to_ almost always sounds right. If you take the _to_ off of _close_, then it would sound wrong. Hahhah, hope this helps!


----------



## Doval

I, too, would almost always use _near_ without _to_ (while _close_, when followed by a noun or noun phrase requires _to_). But I believe it's acceptable to say _near to_. About.com's Kenneth Beare suggests as much, and my very brief search of other grammar sites bears out this advice.


----------



## tablecloth

Thank you very much for your help. I never use it myself but my students keep using it, and I know  it is correct, but I wondered if there were cases in which it was not used.
Best Regards.


----------



## Masood

Hm. It's a good question. No puedo pensar en ningún ejemplo en el cual solamente hay que utilizar 'near' o 'near to'. Se puede utilizar los dos indistintamente, pero prefiero la primera.


----------



## bobinba

"Near" is certainly more common than "near to", but "near to" does have it's place. Here are some good examples just from scroogleing (I use scroogle dot org instead of google):

"Draw near to God"
"government draws near to dicatorship"
"British Airways near to deal with American"
"Apple near to opening iPhone to 3rd party apps"
"OJ Simpson near to tears at 15-year prison sentence"
"Caroline Kennedy near to confirming Senate desires"


----------



## tablecloth

From your examples, it seems that "near to" is preferred when it doesn't have a real spatial use, so you would say "near my house" but "near to crying". Is it so?
Thanks once more.


----------



## Masood

tablecloth said:


> From your examples, it seems that "near to" is preferred when it doesn't have a real spatial use, so you would say "near my house" but *"near to crying"*. Is it so?
> Thanks once more.


Hm. It's a moot point, but I think it sounds more natural to say "close to tears"(!), but, yes, I think you may be right with your 'spatial' suggestion.


----------



## tablecloth

In fact, I've just checked the collins cobuild dictionary, and it gives examples of both "near to" and "near" used both with places and abstract meanings.
But, at least I can say without lying that most native speakers prefer "near the supermarket" to "near to the supermarket".
Thanks again for your time.


----------



## bobinba

tablecloth said:


> In fact, I've just checked the collins cobuild dictionary, and it gives examples of both "near to" and "near" used both with places and abstract meanings.
> But, at least I can say without lying that most native speakers prefer "near the supermarket" to "near to the supermarket".
> Thanks again for your time.



This has me curious so I started a thread in the "English only" forum with the same title. Maybe we can get some input from some hardcore English grammarians. I apologize if I am breaking any forum rules by doing so.


----------



## rocstar

bobinba said:


> "Near" is certainly more common than "near to", but "near to" does have *it's* place. Here are some good examples just from scroogleing (I use scroogle dot org instead of google):
> 
> "Draw near to God"
> "government draws near to dicatorship"
> "British Airways near to deal with American"
> "Apple near to opening iPhone to 3rd party apps"
> "OJ Simpson near to tears at 15-year prison sentence"
> "Caroline Kennedy near to confirming Senate desires"


 
Be careful, it's an *its.*

*Rocstar*


----------



## bobinba

rocstar said:


> Be careful, it's an *its.*
> 
> *Rocstar*



I hate seeing that mistake -- can't believe I made it


----------



## Hugo CB

nabuco85 said:


> To be honest, I don't believe that I ever hear people saying "near to" where I live in the United States. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I certainly have never heard it.
> 
> _"Do you live near the school? Is it near here?"_ This sounds completely fine and natural to me; however, _"Do you live near to the school? Is it near to here?" _both sound off, and if I were to hear them on the street I would probably pause and ask myself if what I just heard was correct. I can really only think of using _"near to" _in a few chioce situations. _To come near to the right answer _or_ to come near to the original_.
> 
> Then again, for those last two I would be more likely to use _"close to"_ rather than _"near." _As a matter of fact, I would always the word _to_ with _close_. _"Do you live close to the school? Is it close to here? (or Is it close by?)"_
> 
> Well, in short, _near to_ almost always sounds unnatural to me, whereas _close to_ almost always sounds right. If you take the _to_ off of _close_, then it would sound wrong. Hahhah, hope this helps!



Wow! Nabuco85 said the correct speech, maybe we can be wrong and not is the complittly idea but is the essence. If you are Spanish languish, try to get the better for the Anglian speakers.


----------



## luiso

Hello everyone!

A few classmates and I have had a problem with "near" because
we weren't sure about if we had to use the preposition "to" after
near or if it was a mistake.

Thanks beforehand


----------



## curlyboy20

Near doesn't take a preposition. "My house is near the school/near the beach, etc". You don't hear " near to the school/near to the beach..."

Have a great day!


----------



## Ynez

English grammar books used to teach "near", but now they say "near to" is also used.


----------



## luiso

thanks you two


----------



## Barbara S.

You can say "he lives near the school" or "near to the school". But you can never use near with "to" when followed by a name (John, Walmart) or a pronoun. He lives near me/them/you etc.


----------



## Ynez

Good to know, Barbara. Thank you


----------



## luiso

thanks once again


----------



## Shea

I think you would hear people saying "near to" + anything.
"He lives near to John", "He lives near to McDonalds" etc etc. Although that doesn't sound great, I think you are still likely to hear it.
However I think you should just stick to saying "near + noun", adding a "to" is really unnecessary.


----------



## Ynez

Shea said:


> However I think you should just stick to saying "near + noun", adding a "to" is really unnecessary.



Yes, I agree that's the best we can do.


----------



## Barbara S.

I agree, you do here "near to me" etc. but it's usually said by people who speak non-standard English - you wouldn't see it in print. I think it evolved from "close to" and also from "dear to" He lives close to me. He is dear to me.


----------



## Tape2Tape

I feel a fool after persistently telling students that the "to" is unnecessary after "near" in their examples... I'd just never heard it from a native speaker! Those "non-spatial" examples by bobinba are spot on though!


----------



## Tape2Tape

Hugo CB said:


> Wow! Nabuco85 said *used* the correct speech, *but* maybe we can *could* be wrong and not is *it is not* the complittly *complete/whole* idea but *it* is the essence. If you are *a* Spanish languish* speaker*, try to get the better *a better answer* for *from* the Anglian (native? British?)*English* speakers.



Just a quick correction there, Hugo CB, hope you don't mind! I hope I've understood you correctly! Maybe I could also be wrong! 
*Languish* is _languidecer_ in Spanish
and *Anglian* may refer to somebody from eastern England, not necessarily any English speaker, even one fom England!


----------



## Pascal MICHEL

You can say both, near to and near are correct and both of them are accepted by the University of Cambridge when correcting the PET.





bthere said:


> Hello,
> 
> I wanted to know if you say near my house or near to my house, or both. There are more examples near me or near to me.
> If you can say near or near to, when do you use that?
> 
> Thank you for your help!


----------



## SergioPOE

"near to" is fairly common in British English but almost never used in AmE, where "close to" or simply "near" without the "to" is used.


----------



## juan2937

Masood said:


> Hm. It's a moot point, but I think it sounds more natural to say "close to tears"(!), but, yes, I think you may be right with your 'spatial' suggestion.



Michael Swan states that near to or near can be followed by an -ing form

I came very near(to) hitting him


----------



## Robin 111

tablecloth said:


> Are there any rules about when to use "near" and "near to"?
> In fact, I'd like to know if anyone can think of an instance where the latter is not possible.
> Thank you very much for your help.



I found some information from the site, "perfectyourenglish.com":   http://www.perfectyourenglish.com/usage/near.htm. 

Using Near 


[*=left]The station is quite *near; it is only two minutes’ walk.*
[*=left]*The summer holidays are drawing near.*
[*=left]*He lives near by.*
*Near as a preposition* *Near can be used with or without to. To is not normally used when we are talking about physical closeness.*
*Don’t go near the edge of the cliff, you may fall over it. (NOT Don’t go near to the edge …)*
*When we are not talking about physical closeness, near to is often preferred.*



[*=left]*I came very near to hitting him. (NOT I came very near hitting him.)*
*Nearer and nearest are generally used with to, though to can be dropped in an informal style.*



[*=left]*Come and sit nearer to me.*
[*=left]*Who is the girl sitting nearest to the door?*


----------

