French language Q&A Forum

I have not seen this one addressed elsewhere, so I will post it and see if there is any advice. In all the exercises so far, "près de" is used. I am in Quebec and have been using "proche de", which seems to be commonly used.

So - the question: is there some subtle differences in the use of "près" or "proche" which I should learn?

What is the difference between le truc and la chose?

MT

Hi, could you please explain the difference in using y/là/là-bas

For example, 

I'm going to the beach tonight

Je vais y aller ce soir 

Je vais aller là ce soir 

Je vais aller là-bas ce soir 

Is there a difference in these phrases?