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Grammar detail: 近い and 近く

近い and 近く
196 words
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ちか
い is a regular い adjective meaning 'near' or 'close'. It is one of the commonest words in Japanese, and the basis of one of the most useful sentence patterns:
いちばん
一番
ちか
やっきょく
薬局
どこあります
Where's the nearest drugstore?
The word
ちか
く often causes confusion, however, because it is often followed by particles such as に, の or で, and adverbs formed from い adjectives are not commonly followed by particles. The reason is that, although it may be the adverbial form of 近い, more commonly it is a noun in its own right. Let's look at each form.
When 近く is being used as a noun, it means 'vicinity', 'nearby' etc. It usually refers to a location, and as a result is usually accompanied by the location marker に or the action marker で.
せんせい
先生
すぐ
ちか
んでいます

Our teacher lives close by.
きのう
昨日
いえ
ちか
かじ
火事
きた

Yesterday a fire broke out near my house.
Since it is actually a noun, combining it with other nouns requires the joining particle の:
わたし
すぐ
ちか
みせ
った

I went to the closest store.
Alternatively it can follow a noun, often some kind of measurement, in which case no particle is required:
こくど
国土
はちわり
8割
ちか
やま
です
Nearly 80 percent of the land is mountains.
わたし
もう
さんじっぷん
30分
ちか
っています

I have been waiting for almost half an hour.
Usage as a plain adverb is actually less common, but it is easy to spot because the 近く is placed directly before the verb it modifies, with no particles:
クリスマス
ちか
なってきた
Christmas is fast approaching.
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Kanji used in this grammar

キン   ちか close   
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イチ   イツ   ひと    ひと- one   
バン    turn   
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ヤク   くすり medicine   
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キョク    office   
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セン   さき ahead   
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セイ   ショウ    life   なま raw   いかす to enliven   いきる to live   いける to arrange flowers   うまれる to be born   う to give birth to   き pure, undiluted   お to grow, to sprout   はえる to grow, to sprout   はやす to grow, cultivate   
ジュウ   す to live, to dwell   すまう to live (concept)   
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サク    yesterday   
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ニチ   ジツ   sun; day   ひ    -か    
カ   ケ   house   いえ    や    
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カ   fire   ひ    ほ-    
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ジ   ズ   こと thing; matter   
キ   おきる to wake up, to get up   おこる to happen   おこす to rouse   
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シ   わたくし    わたし I, myself   
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テン   みせ shop   
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コウ   ギョウ   アン   ゆ    い to go   おこな to take place   
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コク   くに country   
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ド   ト   ground; earth   つち ground, earth, soil   
カツ   わ to separate, to divide   われる to split apart, to crack   わり proportion, 10%   さ to cut up   
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サン   やま mountain   
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ブン   ブ   フン   わける to divide, to distinguish   わかる to understand   わかれる to be divided   わかつ to share, distribute   
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タイ   ま to wait   
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