"In the left side of the art gallery was, from top to bottom, a cafe, a gallery office, and an exhibition room, while in the right side, there..."

[hardyweineberg]

These sentences are from my essay:

"In the left side of the art gallery was, from top to bottom, a cafe, a gallery office, and an exhibition room, while in the right side, there were only exhibition rooms."

"Other changes or additions include a lift, which is to the right of the stairs, a ramp for wheelchair, behind the children's area, and an entrance hall, in front of the reception."

1) Is it acceptable and grammatical to use the phrase "from top to bottom" when listing the rooms present in a section of a room?

2) Is the 2nd sentence correctly punctuated?

 

[probus]

2. I would omit the comma after wheelchair.

1. I see no problem with 'from top to bottom" but there are errors. "Was" should be "were" because it is followed by several items. Wheelchair should be pluralized or alternatively preceded by the indefinite article. "Section of a room" doesn't seem to make sense. Did you mean section of the building?

 

[tedmc]

You can call them "right/left wing of the art gallery building", the centre part being the hall.

I would say "now" instead of "present day".

 

[hardyweineberg]

2. I would omit the comma after wheelchair.

1. I see no problem with 'from top to bottom" but there are errors. "Was" should be "were" because it is followed by several items. Wheelchair should be pluralized or alternatively preceded by the indefinite article. "Section of a room" doesn't seem to make sense. Did you mean section of the building?

Yes, I meant "section of a building"

 

[5jj]

'From top to bottom' does not work for me at all.

 

[Tarheel]

Two things. One, if everything is on the ground floor, what is "from top to bottom" indicate? Two, do you mean "reception area"?

I don't think I would use "changes and additions". Do you know why?

 

[hardyweineberg]

Two things. One, if everything is on the ground floor, what is "from top to bottom" indicate? Two, do you mean "reception area"?

I don't think I would use "changes and additions". Do you know why?

From top to bottom refers to the top and bottom of the plan. It's like saying "from north to south".

"do you mean "reception area"

Yes. I thought reception and reception area mean the same thing.

I don't think I would use "changes and additions". Do you know why?

I don't know why.

 

[hardyweineberg]

'From top to bottom' does not work for me at all.

Can I say "from north to south"

 

[5jj]

From top to bottom refers to the top and bottom of the plan. It's like saying "from north to south".

It isn't. North to south is horizontal; top to bottom is vertical.

 

[hardyweineberg]

It isn't. North to south is horizontal; top to bottom is vertical

I meant that "from the top of the plan to the bottom" means "from the north of the gallery to the south". I didn't want to use compass directions (that is, north, south etc) to describe the interior of a building.

So should I have simply written "...was, from north to south..."?

 

[Tarheel]

An addition is a change.

 

[5jj]

An addition is a change.

I don't agree.

An addition is something extra; a change does not necessarily result in anything extra.

 

[Tarheel]

I don't agree.

An addition is something extra; a change does not necessarily result in anything extra.

True. A change could be a subtraction. An addtiton is a type of change. One is a subset of the other.

 

[Tarheel]

All poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles.

 

[Barque]

I don't like "from top to bottom" either but it could work if you specified "from top to bottom of the plan".

"Other changes or additions include a lift, which is to the right of the stairs, a ramp for wheelchair, behind the children's area, and an entrance hall, in front of the reception."

Other changes or additions include a lift, which is to the right of the stairs, a ramp for wheelchairs, behind the children's area, and an entrance hall, in front of the reception.

(In case it isn't clear, I deleted the commas after "lift", after "wheelchair" and after "hall".)

North to south is horizontal;

Why do you say that? If I had to describe it that way, I'd call it vertical. East-West is horizontal.

 

[5jj]

Why do you say that?

I slipped.