providing directions

[jctgf]

"keep walking until you get to Rector street. then, make a right turn, walk to the upper street, make a left turn and keep walking. in 5 minutes you will find the store!"

are those directions OK?

how would you say that?

thanks

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by jctgf

"keep walking until you get to Rector street. then, make a right turn, walk to the upper street, make a left turn and keep walking. in 5 minutes you will find the store!"

are those directions OK?

how would you say that?

thanks

Go along this street till you reach Rectory Street, then turn right, go on till you come to Upper Street, turn left and keep walking. [The store will be on your left/right].

It is not clear whether the whole walk will take five minutes or whether it will take five minutes after turning onto Upper Street.

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by jctgf

"keep walking until you get to Rector street. then, make a right turn, walk to the upper street, make a left turn and keep walking. in 5 minutes you will find the store!"

are those directions OK?

how would you say that?

thanks

First - "upper street" means nothing to me, perhaps it means a main street or in British English a high street. You should use the street's name unless the street is named "Upper"

Second - you give no direction to travel at the beginning.

Third - You give nothing to help identify the store.

With those reservations, you didn't do too bad.

I might write it as follows (we shall assume I am talking to someone on Pleasant Avenue which leads to Rector Street):

Walk south on Pleasant Avenue about two blocks until you reach Rector street; make a right turn on Rector and walk for about 10 minutes until you reach Upper Street; turn left on Upper, walk for another 5 minutes and you will see the store on your left. It has a red and white mailbox in front of it.

[jctgf]

thanks.

"upper" here is not the name of a street.

it's the street that was on a higher altitude than the one where we were standing.

the "upper" street, the street above. the neighborhood was on a rugged terrain.

what about "make a right/left turn"?

i saw many signs with this warning when i was in the USA.

thanks

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by jctgf

thanks.

"upper" here is not the name of a street.

it's the street that was on a higher altitude than the one where we were standing.

the "upper" street, the street above. the neighborhood was on a rugged terrain.

what about "make a right/left turn"?

i saw many signs with this warning when i was in the USA.

thanks

Well, if you were giving such directions to a native English speaker he may have trouble figuring that out, unless as you gave your directions you pointed this street out as you were talking.

If you don't know the name of this street, then you should describe the corner so he/she will know which street you mean.

what about "make a right/left turn"?

What about it? I don't have a clue what you are asking here.

i saw many signs with this warning when i was in the USA.

And this relates to our discussion, how?

[jctgf]

Originally Posted by Naamplao

Well, if you were giving such directions to a native English speaker he may have trouble figuring that out, unless as you gave your directions you pointed this street out as you were talking.

If you don't know the name of this street, then you should describe the corner so he/she will know which street you mean.

what about "make a right/left turn"?

What about it? I don't have a clue what you are asking here.

i saw many signs with this warning when i was in the USA.

And this relates to our discussion, how?

Hi,

Yes, he was a native guy. Despite my poor English, I think he was able to understand me.

Well, I have 2 questions, pls:

1) I saw many signs in NYC which said "make left turn"/"make right turn". When they are repairing things on the sidewalk, they position signs like this in order to inform people how to avoid dangerous areas.

My question is: can I use "make a right turn" instead of "turn right" when trying to provide directions to someone? Pls, take a look at my first post.

2) When I said "upper street" I meant the street above. "Upper", in this case, is not the name of the street.

Let me try to explain:

On the world map we have meridians and parallels. On the north hemisphere, parallel 30 is below parallel 31. If I live on parallel 30 and I want to refer to parallel 31, how can I qualify the parallel 31?

The "upper" parallel?
The parallel "above"?
The "higher" parallel?
The next parallel "above"?

When I said "upper street" I meant the street above the one we were standing, because we were not in a flat neighborhood. There were some slopes and the guy had to go up a slope to get to the "upper" street (the street parallel to the one we were, however on a higher altitude).

I wonder if I am clear now.

Thanks a lot!

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by jctgf

Hi,

Yes, he was a native guy. Despite my poor English, I think he was able to understand me.

Well, I have 2 questions, pls:

1) I saw many signs in NYC which said "make left turn"/"make right turn". When they are repairing things on the sidewalk, they position signs like this in order to inform people how to avoid dangerous areas.

My question is: can I use "make a right turn" instead of "turn right" when trying to provide directions to someone? Pls, take a look at my first post. You can. Both are understandable, though you would use "make a right turn" in North America and "turn right" in Britain.

2) When I said "upper street" I meant the street above. "Upper", in this case, is not the name of the street.

Let me try to explain:

On the world map we have meridians and parallels. On the north hemisphere, parallel 30 is below parallel 31. If I live on parallel 30 and I want to refer to parallel 31, how can I qualify the parallel 31?

The "upper" parallel?
The parallel "above"?
The "higher" parallel?
The next parallel "above"?

When I said "upper street" I meant the street above the one we were standing, because we were not in a flat neighborhood. There were some slopes and the guy had to go up a slope to get to the "upper" street (the street parallel to the one we were, however on a higher altitude). So presumably he had to go up a hill to get to it? "Go up the hill till you come to the street above..."

I wonder if I am clear now.

Thanks a lot!

Ahhh - context!