Come closer means to move nearer to someone or something. In the literal sense, you use it to ask someone to approach: Come closer, I want to show you something. Figuratively, it means getting nearer to a goal or a decision: come closer to an agreement.
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come closer (to + person/place); come closer to + noun/-ing; come close to + -ing (= almost do)
- Come closer to the screen so you can see the numbers on the chart.
- After two years of saving, we're finally coming closer to buying our own flat.
- The deer came closer, looked at us for a second and ran back into the trees.
What changed
First versionAfter a long meeting, the two sides came closer to agree on the budget.
RevisionAfter a long meeting, the two sides came closer to agreeing on the budget.
Here to is not part of a verb but a preposition meaning “towards”. After this to, you need a noun or an -ing form: closer to an agreement, closer to agreeing. The mistake comes from treating to as the start of an infinitive.
Come closer always compares: nearer than before. Come close to + -ing means “to almost do something”: I came close to missing my flight, which means I nearly missed it.
Your turn
I can't hear you from the back of the room, so could you come a little ___?
Show the answer
closer — A little signals a comparison: a bit nearer than now, so the form closer is needed. Come a little close sounds ungrammatical.
Describe a goal you are working towards now. Say what you did last month to get closer to it.
By finishing two online courses last month, I came closer to getting a job in data analysis.
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