On Friday, 17 November 2017 00:27:59 UTC, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 22:57:33 -0000, GordonD wrote:



Apartment and flat are both wrong. They aren't apart, and they aren't flat.

Flat is OK because it's a description of an area you own or rent in a block.
It's flat it means you don't have the right or ownership of the units above or below you, so on one level i.e flat.

Flat :- having a level surface; without raised areas or indentations.

If you have a flat on two floors it is more correctly describe as a maisonette but some use this term if the front door is on a differnet floor to your dwelling.

as for apartment I'd prefer compartment but american have condos too.



I didn't get any points in my French class at school when I was asked to translate, "une apartemente" into English.

I thought it was un not une.

I wrote "an apartment" to which my (American) French teacher said, "No, that's an American word, in English please!" which amused me greatly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartment

An apartment (American English), flat (British English) or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building, generally on a single level.