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:
- Outside – Use ground
- Inside – Use floor
- Sometimes English considers some natural spaces bounded, like a room
So… the ocean floor and the forest floor
Ex: We studied the ocean floor in science class. - 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.
Thanks Alan!
Let’s not forget the ocean floor…
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.