Expressions for Close

Close friends is a title reserved for the few friends who are most important to you. They are the ones you speak to most often and share the most with. A person can have many friends in their life, but you generally have only a few close friends. Sometimes it relates to the amount of time you know a person, but not always. It relates more to your feelings towards the person.

Examples: #1) She is my closest friend. I can tell her anything.
#2) We have been friends for a few years, but we aren't really close.
#3) He and I are close friends, and we know we can depend on one another.

You may also use close to describe your relationship with your family members. In this case, it refers to how often you speak to them and your emotional intimacy with them.

Example: #1) Are you close with your family?
#2) I'm close to my mother, but I'm not very close to my brothers.



A close call is a situation where you narrowly avoid danger.

Example: #1) The bus stopped within inches of hitting me. That was a close call.
#2) I was on a date with my girlfriend and I saw my wife walk past the restaurant window. Luckily, she didn't see me. That was a close call.
#3) I was an hour late to work, but my boss was late, too. That was a close call.

A similar expression is too close to call, which means the result of a competition is so close that we don't yet know the final outcome.

Example: #1) We had to check the photo because the horse race was too close to call.
#2) We checked 90% of the votes, but the result of the election is still too close to call.

Distance (Close to, Far from, Not Close To)

Distance is a tricky concept because it can refer to distance in space, time, emotions, or reality. In this post, I'll give you a few ways to use Close and Far.

The prepositions are "Close To" and "Far From". Don't confuse the two. Also, remember that the first nouns is the subject, and therefore emphasized.

Examples (Close To):
The supermarket is close to the liquor store. (space)
San Diego is close to the Mexican border. (space)
I'm close to finishing the project. I only need one more day. (time)
She said that she was close to a nervous breakdown. (time)
Even though they live in different cities, he's still close to his family. (emotion)
The boy is closest to his mother because his father works all the time. (emotion)

Note: When describing emotions, you can also say, "He and his family are close." or "The boy and his mother are close."


Examples (Far From):
Unfortunately, our hotel room is far from the beach. (space)
My home is far from my university. (space)
We dream of tourist flights into space, but this is far from a realization. (reality)
The battle is finished, but the war is far from over. (time)

Note: Commonly, far is only used for talking about space. For reality and time, you only use it to express a very long distance. Never use it for emotion.


Examples (Not Close To):
We've been working for days, but we're not close to finishing. (time)
I'm not close to my family. (emotion)

Note: When you express a long distance, it's often better to use not close to. In some situation, far is too strong of an expression.