In the following examples near and nearby have the same meaning

My sister lives near (she lives a short distance from here)

My sister lives nearby (she lives near to where we are now)

Nearby cannot be used as a preposition in this way:

The book is near the table = correct

The book is nearby the table = incorrect

Only near can be used as a verb:

As the day of the exam neared the students got more nervous

Only near can be used as a comparative adjective:

My brothers house is nearer to the park than mine.

The nearest shops are only 100 metres down the street

As an adjective nearby is used like this:

Nearby (adjective) : a nearby place is not far away

I found it on a nearby table.

In a nearby shop/hotel

Nearby (adverb) : not far from where you are.

My father lives nearby.

The people sitting nearby had to leave.

We can use near (to) to talk about time:

My boss is near retirement. (He will retire soon.)

Call me back near the end of September.

We dont use near as an adjective modifying a noun when it refers to distance:

We went to a nearby restaurant in the evening. Correct

Not: We went to a near restaurant in the evening. Incorrect

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