Floor vs. Ground

Don’t Say
– (In your kitchen) I dropped a glass on the ground.
– (In your son’s bedroom) Please pick up all your dirty clothes from the ground.
– (In a parking lot) I found $20 on the floor.
– (At a park) I’m throwing bread on the floor for the birds.

Say This:
– (In your kitchen) I dropped a glass on the floor.
– (In your son’s bedroom) Please pick up all your dirty clothes from the floor.
– (In a parking lot) I found $20 on the ground.
– (At a park) I’m throwing bread on the ground for the birds.

Remember:

  • Inside – Use floor  
  • Outside – Use ground  
  • but… what is a “ground floor”??
    • The ground floor of a tall building is usually the same as the ‘first floor’ – at the ground level.

2 thoughts on “Floor vs. Ground

    • The ocean floor is definitionally ‘inside’ the ocean. Much like the forest floor is inside a forest. It is still a term describing something inside something else. Hence you can have the floor of a valley. When that is said you know that what is being referred to is bounded. And in this case the ground being described is limited by the edges of the Valley.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *