We give accurate estimates of the constants (A( ), ) appearing in direct inequalities of the form | ( ) − ( )| ≤ (A( ), ) 2 ( ; ( )/√ ), ∈ A( ), ∈ , and = 1, 2, . . . , where is a positive linear operator reproducing linear functions and acting on real functions defined on the interval , A( ) is a certain subset of such functions, 2 ( ; ⋅) is the usual second modulus of , and ( ) is an appropriate weight function. We show that the size of the constants (A( ), ) mainly depends on the degree of smoothness of the functions in the set A( ) and on the distance from the point to the boundary of . We give a closed form expression for the best constant when A( ) is a certain set of continuous piecewise linear functions. As illustrative examples, the Szàsz-Mirakyan operators and the Bernstein polynomials are discussed.