Curved road.

There is a curved road and we are standing there and we want to tell someone over the phone that we are there so what we can say "I am standing at the curve?" What do we say to a "curve" or "curved road?" I know about "detour" that is a circle or a long cut but I am asking about "curve."

We are at the bend of the road.

tedmc said:

We are at the bend of the road.

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Is it correct to say "you are at the bend of the road. Drive along the bend of the road and then go straight on that road (while giving directions over the phone)?"

If there aren't any turnings off the road, you don't need to tell someone to follow the bend/curve of the road. They will just do that automatically. If the location of the bend/curve is important, you could mention it.

Stay on the road you're on and, just after the sharp left-hand bend, you'll see a turning on the right. Take that turn and my house is 100 yards down on the left.

not a teacher

The form "bend in the road" is also natural and very common.

emsr2d2 said:

If there aren't any turnings off the road, you don't need to tell someone to follow the bend/curve of the road. They will just do that automatically. If the location of the bend/curve is important, you could mention it.

Stay on the road you're on and, just after the sharp left-hand bend, you'll see a turning on the right. Take that turn and my house is 100 yards down on the left.

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Is it also correct to say "Stay on the road you're on and, just after the sharp left-hand bend, you'll see a bend on the right. Take that turn and my house is 100 yards down on the left?" Bend means curve, they are interchangable, right?

I'm sorry for off topic but I do really think that such things in English are the most difficult. How is it possible to describe something like this in English in an adequate way? When somebody tries to explain to me where he's in my mother tongue I feel so confused. :-(

Piscean said:

It is not really confusing. ems showed how we commonly use the words in post 4. If there is a bend in the road, the road is no longer straight. A turning is completely different. At a turning, we move from one road to another,

Think of a bend in a straight road (l) as a ( or, if it's a very sharp bend, as an L. Think of a turning as a T or a Ͱ.

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Could you please attach the pictures of bend and turn? I am still confused

Does turning mean a point where a road gets divided into two or more parts?

This road has several bends. It's not a turn because a turn implies that you've got a choice which path to take.
Correct me if I'm wrong. :-D

Boris Tatarenko said:

When somebody tries to explain to me where he's in my mother tongue I feel so confused. :-(

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Write where he is.

To elaborate a little on the last post, you can contract the subject and verb as long as they're not at the end of a sentence/clause.

I am lost.
I'm lost. :tick:

I don't know where I am going.
I don't know where I'm going. :tick:

I don't know where I am.
I don't know where I'm. :cross:

tufguy said:

There is a curved road and we are standing there and we want to tell someone over the phone that we are there so what we can say "I am standing at the curve?" What do we say to a "curve" or "curved road?" I know about "detour" that is a circle or a long cut but I am asking about "curve."

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It's okay to say "I'm standing by/at the curve". I'd prefer 'curve' over 'bend', actually. In my part of the country, all the roads typically run straight as far as you can see, so curves and turns are natural navigation landmarks, because they're so rare.

When giving directions to my family's farm, we usually say something like "Take the first gravel road after the road curves past the river". My uncle's house is "straight past the curve".

Skrej said:

It's okay to say "I'm standing by/at the curve". I'd prefer 'curve' over 'bend', actually. In my part of the country, all the roads typically run straight as far as you can see, so curves and turns are natural navigation landmarks, because they're so rare.

When giving directions to my family's farm, we usually say something like "Take the first gravel road after the road curves past the river". My uncle's house is "straight past the curve".

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What is a gravel road?

'Gravel' is in all the dictionaries here.

tufguy said:

Does turning mean a point where a road gets divided into two or more parts?

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I think a bifurcation means so.

A T-junction:





A fork in the road (we don't call it a bifurcation):

I found 'bifurcation' in this American English dictionary.
Might it be used in AmE?

Matthew Wai said:

I found 'bifurcation' in this American English dictionary.
Might it be used in AmE?

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No, nobody would use it in normal day-to-day speech.

Unless they perchance were afflicted by malign spirits of grandiloquence.

tufguy said:

What is a gravel road?

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It's a dirt road which has been upgraded somewhat by adding a layer of gravel to the top. The gravel is then worked down into the dirt by the vehicles driving over it, solidifying the road somewhat.

They're marginally better than just a plain dirt road. They're usually maintained somewhat regularly by grading. They are of course nowhere near as nice a paved road, but then they cost only a fraction of what it costs to install and maintain paved roads.

The majority of rural roads in my part of the country are gravel roads. There are only a few main paved roads and highways that the gravel roads all feed into.