Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

I found the following expressions in my dictionary.

close quarters/ close area
cramped apartment/ cramped room

The "close" and "cramped" here are interchangeable?
And is it OK to say/write "a close/cramped house"?

Thank you in advance!
Junkomama

[redset]

Hi!

'Close' basically means 'near', but 'cramped' (as an adjective) really means a small space, where it's difficult to move freely. A cramped apartment would be a small one where you might have to step over furniture to move around, or where the kitchen is too small, and so on. Somewhere which really needs more space!

You can say 'a cramped house' but you'd usually say 'a nearby house' or 'we're close to the house' if you were talking about distance.

Does that help?

[Junkomama]

Hello, redset-san.
Thank you for your quick response!

My dictionary says that "without enough space" is one of the definitions of "close" , so I wondered if "a close house" could mean "a very small house which doesn't have enough space."
I'm glad to learn that you don't say "a close house" but "a cramped house" .
Thank you again for your comment.

Regards,
Junkomama

[redset]

You could say 'the houses are close' - that way you're saying that they're near to each other, so there isn't much space between them. If you just say 'the house is close' then you're implying it's near to you.

I just looked at the dictionary and you're right, it does say 'confining, narrow' (which is what 'cramped' means) but I don't think it's used for that meaning much in the attributive position - and I've definitely never heard anyone say 'a close house'. It is used in some specific phrases though, like 'close quarters', 'close weave' (where threads are woven tightly), 'close together' and so on.

I'd wait and see if other people have heard of a 'close house' before saying it's wrong, but I think 'cramped' would definitely be better and understood by more people.

[Junkomama]

Thank you for your further comments.
They are so helpful!

Junkomama