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Road, street, or avenue
A road links places, a street is a city or town road with buildings on its sides, and an avenue is a wide street.
Quick rule
Does it link one place to another? Road. Is it a city street with houses or shops? Street. Is it a wide street or an avenue name? Avenue.
A hard surface built for vehicles to travel on, usually from one place to another: a country road, a main road.
A public road in a city or town with houses and buildings on one or both sides: a quiet street, Main Street.
A wide street in a town or city, or a way of making progress toward something: explore every avenue.
How to choose
| Question | road | street | avenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does it link one place to another (the ___ to Lima)? | Yes | No | No |
| Is it a city route with shops along it (a shop on the ___)? | SometimesSometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Can it mean "a way to achieve something" (explore every ___)? | No | No | Yes |
Why it trips people up
Road, street, and avenue all name a way for traffic. Road links places, street runs through a town with buildings along it, and avenue is a wide street. They overlap in town names, which is why they are mixed up.
How each one works
Road
Connects two places
A single road leads to the village, and it closes in winter.
Road to + a place
We bought water at a stand on the road to Quito.
What the road is like
Slow down. This road has a lot of curves.
Street
A neighborhood street
Their house is on a street with many trees.
A named street
Let's walk down Main Street and look at the stores.
In the street itself
Kids play soccer in the street on weekends.
Avenue
A wide city street
The hotel is on a wide avenue with a fountain in the middle.
Avenue in a name
Her office is at 200 Madison Avenue.
Figurative: a way to achieve something
The mayor is open to every avenue for lowering prices.
What comes next
the road to plus place
The road to the airport is under repair.
on the road (traveling)
The band has been on the road for six months.
on plus name plus Street
Meet me on Oak Street at noon.
cross / walk down the street
Walk down the street and turn left.
on plus name plus Avenue
The bookstore is on Park Avenue.
avenue(s) for / to plus something
We are exploring new avenues for growth.
Set phrases
Road
- main road
- a large road that carries a lot of traffic
- road to recovery
- getting better after an illness or a problem
Street
- side street
- a small street that leaves a bigger one
- right up your street
- very suitable for you because you know it or like it
Avenue
- explore every avenue
- to try every possible way of solving something
Almost the same
The bus broke down on the road to Lima.
Outside town, between two places.
The bus stopped on Fifth Street.
Inside town, with buildings.
The bus drove down the avenue.
A wide city street.
In a conversation
- A:
Excuse me, how do I get to the museum?
- B:
Go down this street, then turn left on the avenue.
- A:
Is it far? I read it is near the main road.
- B:
No, it is five minutes on foot. You will see it on your right.
Common mistakes
Wrong: We drove down a long rode in the dark.
Right: We drove down a long road in the dark.
Rode is the past of ride and sounds the same as road. Typing quickly, the two get swapped.
Wrong: I jogged on the Oak Street for an hour.
Right: I jogged on Oak Street for an hour.
Street names normally take no the: on Oak Street, on Park Avenue.
Memory trick
Picture a map. A line that leaves town for another place is a road. One inside town, with buildings along it, is a street. A wide one with a name is an avenue.
It depends
- Road inside a town
- In British English, road appears in town street names, such as 35 York Road in Oxford. In American English, street or avenue is more usual.
- Figurative meaning
- Road and avenue also mean a way to achieve something: road to recovery, explore every avenue. Street does not work that way.
FAQ
What is the difference between a road, a street, and an avenue?
A road links places. A street runs through a town with buildings on its sides. An avenue is a wide street, or a way of making progress.
Is an avenue bigger than a street?
Oxford defines an avenue as a wide street in a town or city, so it is usually wider than an ordinary street.
Can you use road inside a town?
Yes. Oxford shows road in town street names, such as Kingston Road, especially in British English.