隣(となり)

となり
noun
next to, neighbor
direction
1. next to, beside
The position immediately adjacent to something.
隣(となり)に座(すわ)る。
To sit next to someone.
隣(となり)に座(すわ)ってもいいですか。
May I sit next to you?
隣(となり)の人(ひと)は親切(しんせつ)です。
The person next to me is kind.
学校(がっこう)は図書館(としょかん)の隣(となり)にあります。
The school is next to the library.
私(わたし)は電車(でんしゃ)で隣(となり)の席(せき)に座(すわ)っている人(ひと)と話(はな)しました。
I talked with the person sitting in the seat next to me on the train.
2. neighbor, next door
A person or place that is immediately adjacent.
隣(となり)に住(す)む。
To live next door.
隣(となり)の家(いえ)から音(おと)がする。
There's a sound from next door.
隣(となり)の人(ひと)にあいさつをしました。
I greeted my neighbor.
隣(となり)の部屋(へや)に新(あたら)しい人(ひと)が来(き)ました。
A new person came to the room next door.
子供(こども)のころ、隣(となり)に住(す)んでいた人(ひと)は毎日(まいにち)お菓子(かし)をくれました。
When I was a child, the person who lived next door gave me sweets every day.

隣(となり) refers to something immediately adjacent, with no gap in between. It is used both for the position "next to" and for the person or household living there.

Common expressions

  • お隣(となり): the neighbors, next door (polite and very common)
  • 隣(となり)の人(ひと): either "the person next to me" or "my neighbor," depending on context
  • 隣(となり)同士(どうし): side by side, next to each other
  • 隣(となり)町(まち): the next town over

Similar words

Two things are 隣(となり) only if they are comparable items in a row — houses, seats, rooms, countries. A cup sitting beside a plate is 横(よこ), not 隣(となり).

Related Words

Compare: そば (nearby (not adjacent))
Compare: 横(よこ) (beside (horizontal))
Compare: 近(ちか)い (nearby, but not necessarily adjacent)
Related: 斜(なな)め向(む)かい (diagonally opposite)
basic
Added 2026.1.7 21:39 · Revised 2026.9.2 12:02
01000/01003_tonari