upstairs

[Daniellll]

if you have two buildings where one of them has a location higher than the other. can you say to someone who is moving from the higher building to the lower building " is you office still upstairs?". I mean does upstairs mean a higher floor in the same building or it is possible to use it in this case?

[Ann1977]

if you have two buildings where one of them has a location higher than the other. can you say to someone who is moving from the higher building to the lower building " is you office still upstairs?". I mean does upstairs mean a higher floor in the same building or it is possible to use it in this case?

If you move from the 10th floor in Building A to the 5th floor in Building B, you're still upstairs.

But "upstairs" is not a "place." It is a relative relationship.

The 10th floor in Building A was "upstairs" to people who live on the lower floors, and "downstairs" to people who live on higher floors.

Ex: Joanne lives on the 15th floor, so she goes downstairs to visit her friends on the 10th floor. But Patty lives on the 8th floor, so she goes upstairs when she visits them.

So the person who moved to the 5th floor in Building B is still "above street level" -- which is one way to think about "upstairs." But he's downstairs according to his friends on the 12th floor.

[jlinger]

No, I wouldn't use it like that. Upstairs is relative to something. You can be on the 5th floor and they are upstairs if they are on the 6th or above, for example, but not in another building (simply because you would have to go downstairs, first, and then upstairs to get to them). They may be "upstairs from the front office" in the new building, but notice it's still relative.

If they were on the 5th floor in the current building and moved to the second floor in the new one, they would still be "upstairs" as they still have to climb up stairs.

I would ask if they are still on a higher floor, or "are you on a higher floor in that building" or words to that effect.