Prospect means the possibility or expectation that something will happen: the prospect of a pay rise. In the plural, prospects means chances of future success: job prospects, career prospects. It is not a street or an advert: a wide street is an avenue, an advertising booklet is a brochure or a leaflet, and a British university's guide for applicants is called a prospectus.
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the prospect of + noun/-ing; job/career + prospects (plural); little/no + prospect of + noun/-ing
- The prospect of speaking in front of 200 people made him nervous for weeks.
- Many young people move to the capital because job prospects there are much better.
- There's little prospect of the weather improving before the weekend.
What changed
First versionOur office is on a wide prospect in the city centre, near the main post office.
RevisionOur office is on a wide avenue in the city centre, near the main post office.
English prospect doesn't mean a street, so on a wide prospect is confusing for the listener. A wide city street is called an avenue. In some languages a similar word does mean an avenue, and street names such as Nevsky Prospekt keep it in transliteration, but it doesn't work as an ordinary English word.
Chances for the future are prospects, not perspectives. Perspective means “a point of view, a way of seeing things”: Try to see the problem from my perspective. So good chances in your career are good career prospects.
Your turn
Graduates in computer science have excellent job ___, because companies are always looking for programmers.
Show the answer
prospects — This is about graduates' chances of finding work, so the answer is job prospects. Perspectives are points of view and have nothing to do with finding a job, even though in several languages the word for “prospects” looks like perspectives.
Write about a profession you have chosen or would like to choose. Say what its prospects are and why you think so.
I chose nursing because the career prospects are good: hospitals in my city always need qualified staff.
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