Do you use nearer or closer in a sentence?

Answer 1

You can use either, it just depends what context you are in.

For example, either of the versions of these sentences are fine:

• A - His house was closer than he had originally thought.
• B - His house was nearer than he had originally thought.

Since both words mean the same thing, it doesn't utterly matter.

Take a look at these two versions:

• A - Which ball bounced closer to the 4 metre mark?
• B - Which ball bounced nearer to the 4 metre mark?

You might feel in certain instances that one or the other word is preferable, but in the examples above, it does not really show much of a noticeable difference.

Answer 2

Both "nearer" and "closer" can be used interchangeably to indicate proximity, but "closer" is more commonly used in everyday language. For example, you can say "the store is closer to my house" or "the store is nearer to my house" to convey the same meaning.