meaning - Difference between floor and storey


I've read once about "x stories" .. Want to know if there is any difference between stories and floors.


Or they are just alias for each other used in different variations of English language?



Answer



The terms are different even though they can be interchangeably used a lot.


Floor is where you get off or live. Story is a measurement of height.



You would say:



  • I live on the 10th floor.

  • That building is 30 stories high.


You would not say:



  • I live on the 10th story.

  • That building is 30 floors high.



An example of this is that a lot of buildings do not have a 13th floor. So the person on the 14th floor would be 13 stories high. Also if you had a building with penthouses that were 4 stories high and you were on the 4th floor of the penthouse on the 20th floor of the building, you might be 83 stories high.


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