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Typically used to describe a position directly adjacent to someone or something. It implies immediate proximity.

• She sat next to me during the meeting
• The bakery is next to the coffee shop

Indicates a position immediately adjacent to something, often used in more formal or written contexts.

• He stood beside her in the photograph
• There is a chair beside the window

Suggests being adjacent, but often used in contexts where two things are parallel or moving/growing together.

• The soldiers marched alongside each other
• The new park was built alongside the river

Used to describe proximity to a place or object, often with a less precise meaning than 'next to' or 'beside'.

• She lives by the sea
• They parked the car by the restaurant