Asking the location of something

Question

There are five switches horizontally in a row on the control panel of a machine. If I want to ask the manufacturer by email which switch I should press to start the machine, does the following sentence make sense?

"Which switch from the leftmost one should I press to start the machine?"

There are ten shops, including a flower shop, in one block. If I want to ask the location of the flower shop by telephone, does the following sentence make sense?

"How many shops away from the corner is your shop?"

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Snappy
There are five switches horizontally in a row on the control panel of a machine. If I want to ask the manufacturer by email which switch I should press to start the machine, does the following sentence make sense?
"Which switch from the leftmost one should I press to start the machine?"
There are ten shops, including a flower shop, in one block. If I want to ask the location of the flower shop by telephone, does the following sentence make sense?
"How many shops away from the corner is your shop?"

You're doing more work than you have to in these questions.

Let the person on the other end of the conversation do the work. You may actually make things worse by suggesting how they should answer. Let them decide.

Which switch starts the machine?
How far from the corner is your shop?

Then, hopefully, you'll understand the answer.

Use the middle switch. / Counting from the left, use the second switch. / It's the second switch from the right.
It's two doors down from the corner. / If you're walking south, it's just after the bicycle shop. / The address is 2453 King Street.

'X doors down' is a good expression to remember. (X is always a number.)

CJ

Asking the location of something

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions