adjacent or adjoining?
Two houses are said to be adjoining when they are next to each other with a common wall. Adjoining tables are next to each other, end to end, forming one surface (they are, to use a more technical word, contiguous). In other words, adjoining items join. Adjacent houses, on the other hand, can have a space between them or even be on opposite sides of the road, as long as there is nothing significant between them (such as another house) and they are close enough for you to pass easily from one to the other. Adjacent tables are next to each other but not necessarily touching. Note also that adjoining, being a form of a verb, can govern an object (the house adjoining ours), whereas adjacent needs the addition of to (the house adjacent to ours).
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