What does “near” mean?
- 1
prepositiona short distance from something
Is there a bank near here?
- 2
adjectiveclose in distance or time
Where’s the nearest bus stop?
- 3
adverbclose to someone or something
Come a little nearer so you can see.
Near at a glance
- Part of speech
- preposition, adjective & adverb
- CEFR level
- A1 (beginner)
- Pronunciation
- /nɪr/ · NEER
How to use “near” correctly
Don’t add “to” after the preposition in most cases: “near the station,” not usually “near to the station.” But “close” needs “to.”
Common phrases with “near”
- near here
- in the near future
- the nearest
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Synonyms (similar meaning)
- close to
Antonyms (opposite meaning)
Word family
- nearly
- nearby
“near” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- above prepositionA1in or to a higher position than something
- around prepositionA1on every side of something, or in a circle
- behind prepositionA1at or toward the back of something
- between prepositionA1in the space that separates two things or people
- inside prepositionA1in or into a building, container or space
- over prepositionA1above or across something
- under prepositionA1below or lower than something
- across prepositionA2from one side to the other side of something