"La sedia non è vicina alla finestra."

Translation: The chair is not close to the window.

[Reefspal]

I put ' not near to' and it was not accepted

[Vikiname]

"is not near the window" was correct

[rona.y]

Got wrong for the same phrase

[TitoB.Yoto]

My answer "The chair is not near the window" was accepted correct by DL (Feb 26, 2020).

[MikaylaHes1]

'to' is not included in the example. It's your context.

[jama236322]

Me too, reporting it

[SolviNaja]

So what does vicina mean? Next to or near? Does it depend on the use of the preceding/proceeding words?

[JoeM.]

Vicino / vicina are rather subjective in meaning, and depending on the type of context it could very well imply near or next to. It's similar to how in English, using the word near can have a variety of subjective meanings depending on the speaker's intentions. For the purposes of translation, it may be advantageous on Duo's lessons at least, to translate vicina as 'near' because 'next to' is more specifically translated as accanto a. Hope this helps! :)

[Stronzia]

Pay attention: "vicino" could be a noun, an adjective or an adverb!

If it is a noun (meaning "neighbour") or an adjective (meaning "near, close") it must agree in gender and number with the noun (or the gender and number of the neighbour).

If it is an adverb, instead, it's invariant: "la sedia non è vicino alla finestra" is a grammatically correct sentence in Italian and it has the same meaning.

[CheeseS]

Ops! "essere vicino a" was a PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (locuzione preposizionale), Sorry! Like: accanto a, davanti a, dietro a, lontani da etc.

Normally a" prepositional phrase" is invariant! So the correct answer should be "La sedia non è vicinO alla finistra
(Edit May 2015)

(old post)
"vicino" means "near, nearby, close" and it is an adjective that should agree in gender and number with the noun. e.g. le finestre sono vicine.; Il bar vicino a casa mia. and so on.

[PhilZam]

A different phrase in this section was "La scala è vicina l'entrata" rather than "all'entrata". Is "to" needed or optional?

[Stronzia]

"La scala è vicina l'entrata" has no sense in Italian, so it should be a Duo's mistake. In Italian, prepositions are almost Always needed, if the noun isn't the subject or the direct object.

[uroshu]

I was wondering about the same, as well. Any explanation would be highly appreciated. =)

[Danny-Leon]

why not "the chair is not near the window"?

[swntzu]

Because Duo says otherwise apparently

[Sedona2007]

"The chair is not near the window" is now accepted - Nov 2016.

[inconveniente]

Si può dire 'vicino o vicina alla finestra'.!!

[r.potenza]

How is "near" not acceptable for "vicina"?

[AdrianDillon]

Same as immediately below.

[Raphael.lane]

I lived in Sicily for 6 of my school years... I also put "near to" in my answer. I'm sure it is correct even though duo disagrees.

[Sedona2007]

Usually you would say "near the window" (no "to") or "next to the window". Not a rule, as far as I know but the phrase "near to the window" just doesn't sound right (native speaker - American English).

[Nuthatch940]

Near to is fine, indeed commonplace, in British English, as is next to or close to.

[Jae633849]

The speaker sounds SO upset about this!

[Meowe3]

Vicina -> "vicinity"

[RainbowRe]

What is the difference between sedia and seggiola?

[Nuthatch940]

No difference in meaning, they are synonyms, much as chair and seat are in English (either can be either!)

[RainbowRe]

That's what I was thinking but seggiola was marked wrong

[SARAHCAMPB627500]

Near to was not accepted

[Hildegard159905]

Now it's 'vicina' but in a previous example with sedia it was 'vicino' meaning 'near/close to....' ?