Near and near to

Near and nearto are prepositions. Near is also an adjective.

Near and nearto as prepositions

The preposition near (to) means ‘not far away in distance’. Near and near to mean the same, but near is more common:

She comes from a small place on the coast near Barcelona.

My mother loves to sit near the fire at night.

She reached out her hand and drew him near to her.

We can use near (to) to talk about time:

My boss is near retirement. (He will retire soon.)

Call me back near the end of September.

We can use near (to) to talk about being almost in a particular state or condition:

It was full of soldiers and of military police, and I was near despair.

Near as an adjective

In formal contexts, we can use near as an adjective to refer to time with the phrase in the near future meaning ‘soon’. It is usually in end position:

Bank interest rates are expected to rise in the near future.

Warning:

We don’t use near as an adjective modifying a noun when it refers to distance:

We went to a nearby restaurant in the evening.

Not: … a near restaurant …