a) Take me to a near station.
b) Take me to a nearer station than that station.
c) Take me to the nearest station.
I believe a) is not used but b) and c) are. I want to hear a good explanation if there is.
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2 Answers
The following reflect correct usage:
a) "Take me to a nearby station" is correct.
b) "Take me to a station nearer [or "closer"] than that station" is correct.
c) "Take me to the nearest station" is correct as-is.
Take me to a near station.
When you are referring to a distance, you cannot place the word near as an adjective in front of a noun. You should place the adjective nearby to modify the noun station in this case. So the right sentence is:
Take me to a nearby station.
However, you can use the near in front of a noun when you refer to a time, a friend or relative, or when it means "almost" as follows,:
He's a near relative/friend of mine.
I have no intention to visit London in near future.
We drove to the station in near silence (near used in the sense of almost).
As for the sentence "Take me to a nearer station than that station", I think it also sounds a bit weird. It should be as follows:
Take me to a station which is nearer than that station.
Take me to the nearest station.
This sentence is correct grammatically. You can use the superlative form nearest in front of a noun.
