I’m working on JLPT and had this question (see text) : Why is it よこ and not まえ here ? Can someone explain to me how I am supposed to make the difference ?

8 comments

1. I don’t think shops sit *in front of* other shops. One shop would be blocking the other. They would have to be *next to* each other. よこ makes way more sense.

2. ‘horizontal’ is one possible meaning of 横(よこ) however in this context it would be better to use ‘next to’ or ‘beside’ (also possible meanings of 横).

   “The coffee shop is next to the flower shop”, sounds the best to me.

   “The coffee shop is in front of the flower shop” sounds a little weird, even in English.
   A post box could be in front of a shop, but one shop in front of another shop? More likely a coffee shop could be opposite a flower shop.

   It’s not to say that 前(まえ) is invalid, just that 横 is better out of these options as it is a more natural fit.

3. 前(まえ) refers to something directly in front of another object when discussing physical location and something before another event when discussing time.

   横(よこ) refers to being at the side of something, like two buildings neighboring each other on one side of a street.

   In this case the question expected the test taker to assume the buildings are facing the same direction and are in a straight line, as would be the norm in the US at least.

4. If 前に is not correct, how do we say “the coffee shop is in front of the flower shop?” Google translate says 前にあります

5. 前 「まえ」 has a sense of “in front of” to it, whereas 横「よこ」 has more of a “across” sense. That’s how I understand it, at least. Someone, please, correct me if I’m wrong.

6. This one gets me too. Like people have said, they’re both valid answers. Sometimes when questions like this are used in the JLPT N5, they’ll be accompanied by a picture or diagram to avoid any ‘well, *technically…’* situations.

   A few people in this thread have said or implied that using 前 for this kind of thing is something you’d never do, which isn’t the case at all. It’s common to see ‘eki no mae ni’ in JLPT N4 and N5 (or just 駅前に).

   Good luck with your studies!

7. If the coffee shop was in front of the flower shop, you couldn’t enter the flower shop because its door would be blocked. Shops are lined up side by side on a street.

8. How the hell is the coffee shop is infront of the flower shop? You access the flower shop via the backdoor of the coffee shop?