Can someone explain if there is a difference in meaning or usage between vicino and vicina. As far as I can tell, they seem to be interchangeable, yet I've seen both used.
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Your confusion comes from the fact that vicino can be a noun, an adjective, or an adverb; vicina can only be a noun or an adjective, and it is the feminine version of that usage of vicino. In this sense, you also have the plural version.
Used as a noun, vicino means "neighbor" and vicina would be the feminine version of it:
Il mio vicino mi ha regalato una torta, la mia vicina invece è veramente antipatica;
used as an adjective, it means "close, neighboring":
La mia borsa è vicina alla tua, quei paesi vicini sono molto belli,
used as an adverb, vicino means "near":
La ragazza sta arrivando vicino al treno
martina.physics
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1"La ragazza sta arrivando vicino al treno"... this sentence sounds really odd... probably because anyone would say La ragazza si sta avvicinando al treno instead of using arrivare + vicino. – Bakuriu Jun 08 '14 at 12:12
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@Bakuriu You're right, but I couldn't think of a better example! – martina.physics Jun 08 '14 at 13:02
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1"La ragazza sta andando vicino al treno" oppure "la ragazza si sta spostando vicino al treno". – Zachiel Jun 13 '14 at 17:53
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La ragazza è vicino al treno (è = si trova, "vicino" is used as an adverb) – Kokoroatari Jul 04 '14 at 22:48
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La ragazza è vicina al treno ("è" forms a predicate adjective, and "vicina" is obviously used as an adjective) – Kokoroatari Jul 04 '14 at 23:00