Nahe and in der Nähe von

Deutsch
#1

Hello,
Trying to grasp more the usage of nahe and Nähe. At first, I heard everybody saying in der Nähe von (+Dat) but then I found out about nahe and I also read about in der Nähe (+Gen).
So I’m trying to confirm these usages:

  • in der Nähe vom Bahnhof = in the proximity/vicinity / near the train station
  • in der Nähe des Bahnhofs =
  • Die Stadt ist nahe am Meer => nahe an + Dat = the town is close to (at) the sea
  • Diese Bäume nahe dem Fluss sind klein => nahe + Dat = these trees near the river are small
  • Siehst du die Kinder nahe bei den Menschen? => name + bei + Dat = the children near the people
  • Das sind die Städte in der Nähe = these are the nearby cities.

Can you confirm the above sentences are correct?
Can anyone give me some other more examples of nahe + prepositions? Is there a rule for those?

Danke!

2 Likes
#2

“Die Stadt ist in der Nähe vom Meer”. It`s not wrong to say “NAH am Meer” either but to me the first options sounds better…
“DIe Bäume in der Nähe des Flusses sind klein”
“Siehst Du die Kinder in der Nähe von den Menschen?”

Beispiele
Die Stadt ist nah an der Autobahn.
Die Menschen stehen nah beieinander.

2 Likes
#3

Thanks for correction and for the extra examples.

It’s still not clear to me if the sentences I wrote (that you wrote with in der Nähe) are “something that people don’t usually use” (because everybody prefers in der Nähe von instead of nah(e))?.. or are they totally wrong?

2 Likes
#4

“Die Stadt ist nah am Meer” is not wrong. just sounds less fluent to me…

1 Like
#5

Great. Thanks for explanation.

1 Like
#6

Hi :slight_smile:
Basiclly those two are synonyms. In the most cases you can just swap both and it is still correct.
Siehst du die Kinder nahe bei den Menschen? = Siehst du die Kinder in der Nähe der Menschen?
For “in der Nähe” you are using the noun, when “nahe” is a preporsition.
In the most cases it sounds better if you use “in der Nähe” when you talk about a location. “In der Nähe des Flusses”, “in der Nähe des Hauses”, “in der Nähe der Stadt”.
“Nahe” is also used for not-physically purpose, for example:
“Sie ist mir nahe am Herzen” = She is close to my heart
“Er ist nahe mit mir verwandt” = he is a close relative of mine
“in naher Zukunft” = in near future

I hope, i could help

3 Likes
#7

Yes, that’s what I was looking for. Thanks a lot!