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Imagine my house is on the left side of the road, and if there is a bus halt on the left side of the road and a vegetable stall on the right side of the road, when I talk about the bus halt, should I use "in front of" or "opposite?"

What I feel is that I should use in front of since opposite can be definitely used for the vegetable stall since the vegetable stall is facing my house.

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  • (In front of / opposite to) WHAT? That means it.
    – VijayaRagavan
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 10:20
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    I think that would be the correct usage. The vegetable stall's opposite your house, while the bus stop is in front of your house.
    – mikhailcazi
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 10:23
  • Both are in front of your house, but only the one that is across the street is opposite your house. HTH.
    – Kris
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 13:30
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    This is in no way special to the English language. You mean, you don't have the same problem in your native language? Try translating that into your native language and see if the problem goes away. :)
    – Kris
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 13:32

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As the house and the bus stop are on the same side of the road, while giving directions you may use: "by the bus stop", "beside the bus stop", "on the same side as the bus stop","adjacent to the bus stop"(if close enough) or "a few steps from the bus stop"

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Opposite is 'on the other side'. Eg: Our house is opposite the super market. Here: The vegetable stall is opposite our home.

In front of refers to the part that is in the direction it faces. So here, the bus stop is in front of your home.

You could have seen notice boards on the gates saying: 'No parking in front of the gate'.

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    If the house faces the road, the bus stop is not in front of the house, but beside it. Unfortunately there is not enough detail here to be sure.
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 12:13
  • @TimLymington: I'd say the opposite is true. If you're standing in the road, looking at the bus stop and the house is behind it, then the bus stop is in front of the house, not beside it.
    – Steve Melnikoff
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 14:16
  • Have a look at my first comment below the question. We can decide the preposition only by knowing for what. If for the house, the bus stop is 'in front of' and the veg stall is opposite. Depends on the subject.
    – VijayaRagavan
    Commented Oct 23, 2013 at 5:24

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