 In this video, you're going to learn how to use near, near to, and nearby correctly because these are some very common mistakes that I see with my students, even my most advanced students, but I'm going to make this very easy for you. By the end of the video, you'll know how to use these no problem. Of course, I'm Jennifer from jforisenglish.com and this channel is dedicated to helping you sound like a fluent, confident, natural English speaker. Now, before we go any further, make sure you subscribe and hit that bell notification so you're notified every time I post a new lesson. Now, let's dive in with this video. In this video, we're talking about near, near to, and nearby. I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to tell me which one we need to complete the sentence. The sentence is, I live downtown. So which one do we need to complete the sentence? Do you know? Make sure you put it in the comments. So let's talk about this. First of all, I'm going to make this very easy for you. Right now, I want you to take near to and throw it out. Get rid of it. Exit out of your book. Take it out of your brain. Throw it in the garbage because it does not exist. It doesn't exist. I hear it so often from students though. It's one of the most common mistakes I hear with near is simply adding a preposition to when we don't need it. So remember, near to does not exist. It's never correct. Get it out of your vocabulary. So that was easy. And now we're left with two choices. So now which one do we need? Near or nearby? I live near downtown. I live nearby downtown. Well, the answer is near. I live near downtown. So let me make this very easy for you. Okay, specific to location. When we're talking about location, if there is a noun, so someone or something after the choice is always near. So that's a really easy way to think about it. Near by is going to be the last word in your sentence. And you're not going to use a noun after nearby. But you are going to use a noun after near. So let's take a look at this sentence. She lives her boss. She lives her boss. So which choice do we need? Near or nearby? Put it in the comments. Which choice? Well, of course, the sentence ends with someone. It ends with a noun. Because of that, we know we have to use near. Near by is not an option in this case. So that's why it's very easy to know which one you need. So in this case, we need near. She lives near her boss. Okay, so now let's take this sentence. And I'm going to get rid of her boss. Okay, she lives. She lives. So now what do I need? Near or nearby? What do you think? Put it in the comments. She lives nearby. We don't have a noun, right? So because of that, we need nearby. Now, what does this mean? She lives nearby. Near by where? Or nearby what? Well, in this case, when you use nearby, it's wherever you are now. So let's say you're walking down the street, okay? And you're with a friend and you're talking about another friend, that's a woman. And you can say, Susie, oh yeah, she lives nearby. Well, it's nearby wherever you are now. So if you're walking down a street, that's the location that she lives nearby. Okay? If you're downtown, then that's the location she lives nearby. If you're in Central Park and you say she lives nearby, in that case, the location is Central Park. So just remember that with nearby, the destination that it's close to in proximity is wherever you are now or whatever you've established based on context. So let me ask you about this next question. What if I said, oh, do you live near? Do you live near? What do you think? Is this correct or incorrect? What do you think? Put it in the comments. This is incorrect. And why? Why is this incorrect? Well, because we're using near. And when you use near, you need to include the somewhere or the someone. So in this case, do you live near? What can we say after this? Do you live near here? If I wanted the location to be wherever we are now, I would say here. Do you live near here? Sounds a little weird, near here, but it's what we would say. Do you live near here? Because I can't just say do you live near. It sounds incomplete. The other person is going to be waiting for you to say where near where. So you could say do you live near here? Do you live near downtown? Do you live near Central Park? Do you live near your boss? You could include anything. And that's kind of the difference because at this point, it doesn't matter where you are now. We could be sitting in a cafe in the suburbs, but I could ask, oh, do you live near downtown? We're nowhere near downtown right now, but our reference point is downtown. So remember our current location and our reference point can be different when you use near. But if I ask you, do you live nearby? What do you think about this? Is this correct or incorrect? Do you live nearby? This is correct because we can end a sentence with nearby. We don't need to include the noun after. So this sentence is correct. Do you live nearby? But remember it's always where you are now or whatever you've established based on the context of the conversation. So I think that difference is really easy to understand when you think of it that way. If you want to include the somewhere or someone, then you need to use near. If you don't want to include it, then you use nearby. And near to is never correct. So you only have the two choices. Pretty easy, right? So now you can permanently fix this common mistake that I hear my students make all the time, even my very advanced students, but this mistake is very noticeable to a native English speaker. But now you can confidently use near and nearby. So before you go, make sure you practice. So leave in the comments, leave two sentences, one with near and one with nearby just to make sure you got it as well. If you found this video helpful, please hit the like button, share it with your friends and of course subscribe. Now before you go, make sure you head on over to my website jforsenglish.com and download your free speaking guide. In this guide, I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently. And until next time, happy studying. All right, now you're sounding way more fluent, way more natural because you're not going to say near to, right? Is never correct. And now you know how to use near and nearby. That's awesome. Before you go, make sure you subscribe so you can keep improving your English and I can't wait to see you in my next video. Bye.