prepositions

[Anonymous]

It's not clear to me the exact meaning of some prepositions.

What's the difference between "in front of" and "across from" ? If I say that a building(B) is across the street from a house(H), the building is necessarily facing the house or it can be across the street but not exactly in the same direction from the house?

____H____________

_________________
B

What do "go/walk up a street" and "go/walk down a street" mean? Is the difference between those expressions related do the orientation ( north, south, east, west), inclination of the street, flow of traffic or order of the numbers of the buildings located on the street?

 

[RonBee]

Question:

• What's the difference between "in front of" and "across from"?

I think the difference is at least in part a question of distance. If a person is standing on the sidewalk next to a house he is in front of the house. A house on the other side of the street is across from the house.

There is no difference between going up the street and going down the street. They mean the same thing. (It's a quirk of the language.)

 

[Casiopea]

What's the difference between "in front of" and "across from" ? If I say that a building (B) is across the street from a house (H), the building is necessarily facing the house or it can be across the street but not exactly in the same direction from the house?

B is across from H means, B is separated from H by X (X = a street, an alley, a table, a seat, etc.) B does b]not [/b]necessarily have to be facing H. "across from" refers to three, not two, variables:

B ____X______H (where X separates B from H)

What do "go/walk up a street" and "go/walk down a street" mean? Is the difference between those expressions related do the orientation ( north, south, east, west), inclination of the street, flow of traffic or order of the numbers of the buildings located on the street?

All of the above with the exception of 'flow of traffic'. 8) In the past, the meaning depended on the town's/city's development and history. In the present, it's the individual's perspective/idea of what's considered 'up the street' and 'down the street'.

 

[RonBee]

Ups and Downs

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