6.68 prepositions with comparative forms

'Near', 'near to', and 'close to' have comparative forms that can also be used as prepositions.

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If you want to say more exactly which part of the other thing an object is nearest to, or exactly which part of an area or room it is in, you can use one of the following prepositions: 'at', 'by', 'in', 'near', 'on', 'round'. 'To' and 'towards', usually used to indicate direction, are used to express position in a more approximate way.

The objects of the prepositions are nouns referring to parts of an object or place, such as 'top', 'bottom', and 'edge'. Here is a list of words which are used to refer to parts of an object or place:

When the place that you are referring to is obvious or has been stated earlier, you use the nouns in the singular with the determiner 'the'.

Other determiners, for example 'this' and 'each', can be used with nouns such as 'side', 'end', and 'edge', because an object or place may have several sides, ends or edges.

If the person or thing has been mentioned or is obvious, a possessive determiner can be used.

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Note that two or three word prepositions which include the word 'of' are more specific because 'of' can be followed by any nominal group.