Ah, I also used to get mixed up between x²=4ay and y²=4ax! For y²=12x, just compare to y²=4ax. Here, 4a=12, so a=3. Focus is (a,0) or (3,0), directrix is x = -a or x = -3, and latus rectum length is 4a = 12.
It’s like our football ground measurements, didi—once you know one line’s length, you can mark the others. I learned it by drawing the field, because a book formula never stuck until I saw it on actual earth.
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