French language Q&A Forum

My best friend Pierre, who until last year shared a 2-bedroom apartment with me in Paris,

Mon meilleur ami Pierre, qui jusqu'à l'année dernièrer partageait un appartement de deux chambrtrois-pièces avec moi à Paris

Why can't I use l'annee derniere here?? the grammar doesn't explain! 

Thanks guys... can't do accents on this page

Les grands maisons (my answer)

Kwiziq says it's Le grandes maisons however when you look at the examples they say grand is the plural form is grands. Why did they mark my answer as incorrect?

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?