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In American English, in reference to typical buildings, the "first floor" is simply another name for the ground floor; but in British English, it means the floor above the ground floor. Hong Kong follows the British rule in English, but for some old tenant buildings the Chinese counterpart follows the American rule. Higher floors are then numbered consecutively in each case, as illustrated by the following table:
| British convention |
American convention |
Hong Kong convention |
| 3rd floor |
4th floor |
3rd floor (and 三樓, 四樓 (literally 4th floor) for old tenant buildings) |
| 2nd floor |
3rd floor |
2nd floor (and 二樓, 三樓 (literally 3rd floor) for old tenant buildings) |
| 1st floor |
2nd floor |
1st floor (and 一樓, 二樓 (literally 2nd floor) for old tenant buildings) |
| Ground floor |
Ground or 1st floor |
Ground floor and 地下 (literally Ground floor) |
| Basement |
Basement |
Basement |
It is obvious that this can lead to some confusion, but little else can be done other than being aware of this issue. See American and British English differences.
It is not uncommon for buildings to omit the number 13 in their floor numbering because of common superstition surrounding this number. The floor numbering may either go straight from 12 to 14, or the floor may be named something like 'Skyline' instead of numbered. See Thirteenth floor for more details. In Hong Kong some buildings would omit 4th, 14th, 24th, etc floor as the number 4 sounds like death in Cantonese, but the rule is varied.
To be merged:
| Location
| American English
| British English
|
| Bottom floor at ground level | First floor
| Ground floor
|
| One floor above ground level | Second floor
| First floor
|
| Two floors above ground level | Third floor
| Second floor
|
Put simply:
- American English floor number minus 1 = British English name
- British English floor number plus 1 = American English name
In North America, some buildings may have entrances on two different floors, such as those built into a hill. In these cases, the ground floor is the lower and the first floor is the upper.
Most European countries, countries of the Commonwealth, and former British colonies like Hong Kong, follow the same convention as the British, although Russia, some countries of East Europe, and Japan follow the American convention.
Some U.S. high-rise buildings follow the British system, often out of a desire on the part of the building's architect or owners to suggest a posh U.K./European setting.
(Floor numbering schemes in the USA sometimes skip the number 13 for the sake of the superstitious. In the UK, buildings of this height are less common anyway.)
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