"Up the street" or "down the street"?
Question
When is it correct to say "right up the street" and "right down the street "? - Jorge, United States
Answer
In many cases,the prepositional phrases "up the street" and "down the street" mean the same thing, and either one is appropriate.
If a friend called to ask you where the new movie theater was, you could answer either Its right up the street from the Japanese restaurant, or Its just down the street from the Japanese restaurant, and either way they would understand what you meant: Its near the Japanese restaurant, on the same street.
However, here are some importantfactorsto keep in mind:
- Down the street is much more common than "up the street." According to one English language corpus [or large data set], people use the expression down the street five times more often than they use up the street.
- In almost all cases, its correct to use down the street. However, if the street is on a hill, use up the street when talking about something that is further uphill, and down the street when its further downhill.
- Manypeople recommend using up the street to mean, the direction in which the house or building numbers are going up, and using down the street to mean the other way.
- Finally, in the expression "up and down the street" meaning "both ways," up always comes first.