[Grammar] Article 'the' is omitted before 'floor'?

Status
Not open for further replies.

finwing

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
I'm confused after hearing the rule Article 'the' is omitted before 'floor'.
Therefore it's not 'on the second floor', but 'on second floor'.
As far as I know, the is necessary before all ordinal numbers.
Help me out with the right answer. Thanks~
 
Last edited:

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
I'm confused after being heard the rule 'Article 'the' is omitted before 'floor'.
Therefore it's not 'on the second floor', but 'on second floor'.
As far as I know, the is necessary before all ordinal numbers.
Help me out with the right answer. Thanks~

Where did you find that "rule"?
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
We do use on the second floor.
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I'm confused after being told the rule that the article 'the' is omitted before 'floor'.

Or: After hearing the rule.


But not: after being heard.
 

finwing

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Thanks for correcting:)(I edited that)
With your replies, now I know I wasn't wrong.
And in speaking, is 'on second floor' commonly used as well?
Since all the native(all American) E speakers around me answered without 'the' is right, I hope to get more explanation.
Sorry for keeping bothering you, but I'm begging, please.
 
Last edited:

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Thanks for correcting:)(I edited that)
With your replies, now I know I wasn't wrong.
And in speaking, is 'on second floor' commonly used as well?
Since all the native(all American) E speakers around me answered without 'the' is right, I hope to get more explanation.
Sorry for keeping bothering you, but I'm begging, please.

"My flat/apartment is on the second floor." Correct.
"My flat/apartment is on second floor." Incorrect.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I have an apartment on the second floor.
I have a second-floor apartment.
The second floor is above the first floor and under the third floor.
I need an elevator which takes me to the eighteenth floor.
Third-floor apartments are much nicer than second-floor apartments.
The second-floor apartment where I used to live is now owned by Barack Obama.

As you can see from my sentences above, when "second floor" is used as a noun, it requires the article. I cannot come up with an example where the article can be omitted. When "second-floor" is used as an adjective before a noun, then the definite article is not absolute necessary. It depends on context.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
It's a second-floor flat = it's one of a number of flats on the floor
 

Mohammadhelmi

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Israel
Current Location
Israel
I have an apartment on the second floor.
I have a second-floor apartment.
The second floor is above the first floor and under the third floor.
I need an elevator which takes me to the eighteenth floor.
Third-floor apartments are much nicer than second-floor apartments.
The second-floor apartment where I used to live is now owned by Barack Obama.

As you can see from my sentences above, when "second floor" is used as a noun, it requires the article. I cannot come up with an example where the article can be omitted. When "second-floor" is used as an adjective before a noun, then the definite article is not absolute necessary. It depends on context.

I agree with you.
Thanks a lot
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
As far as I know, 'the' is necessary before all ordinal numbers.

I thought that at first, but on second thoughts I changed my mind.

Rover
 

finwing

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Thanks you all for the replies.
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
finwing, we appreciate that you want to say thank you (really, we do!) but it's okay to just "like" the post that gave you a helpful answer (or even just to say "thanks for trying" if it was not helpful). If you add a post just to say "thank you" we think you have additional questions. A "like" is good enough for us.

Thanks!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top