привет!

[xxblackxsatinxx.livejournal.com]

привет!

I have a few questions, I'm a long time lurker (okay... two or three months now)

My teacher asked us to present a layout of our houses because we're learning rooms and such. I know, easy peasy stuff right?

I just want to make sure I've got my floors labelled properly..

So, first floor would be... первый этаж.

Second floor would be... второй этаж.

Annnd basement would be... подвал.

Right? No? I'm not too sure, I'm relying on my dictionary..

And another question, if I wanted to say..

"If I had a door, this is where it would be."

I know, it sounds weird... but we're also supposed to indicate where the doors are but I don't have a door for my room, we took it off.

Anyways,

спасибo большоe!

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

I think you are confusing basement with the ground floor. They are different things. The basement IS underground, or most of it usually is, at best you get a small window under the ceiling which is on the ground level on the outside. And the ground floor IS the first floor (at least here, in North America - Britain might be a different story). So, I am afraid there is no other word for basement in Russian except for подвал. I agree that подвал does not exactly fit the bill, it has entirely different connotations, that's why the Russian people who live in North America usually say бейсмент. It sounds awful but at least you don't get the idea of a damp hole underground where sacks of potatoes are stored.

[isca-lox.livejournal.com]

That's not true because there is a word for it in Russian - цокольный этаж.

[oryx_and_crake]

Basement is not цокольный этаж.

[isca-lox.livejournal.com]

The basement IS underground, or most of it usually is, at best you get a small window under the ceiling which is on the ground level on the outside.
This is a description of цокольный этаж. It's basically a basement with windows like that.

[oryx_and_crake]

Somehow in my mind цокольный этаж does not go together with a one-family house.

[isca-lox.livejournal.com]

http://yandex.ru/yandsearch?text=%D1%86%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9+%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B6&stpar2=%2Fh1%2Ftm865%2Fs1&stpar4=%2Fs1&stpar1=%2Fu0

Well, there is always Yandex...

[oryx_and_crake]

hm, interesting...

[isca-lox.livejournal.com]

I used to work for a translation agency that translated quite a lot of documents for construction companies and as far as I remember цокольный этаж can be used for any kind of building.
It's just that we do not have a lot of private houses with basements like that in Russia. But as I understand they are becoming more popular and I've seen dscriptions of one-family houses with цокольный этаж on many web-sites.

I would never call it бейсмент is Russian because that just sound ugly to me. Подвал is only used for storing things and not for living. If the basement has rooms it's цокольный этаж or maybe полуподвальный этаж.

[surasure.livejournal.com]

i think i'm not, only trying to avoid confusing others ) in sum we all have reached the correct answer and i'm sure the author has a clear idea now. english groundfloor and english basement have their own specific, so in russian she gotta use цокольный этаж for dwelling rooms and подвал - for underground storage rooms when the rooms are half in the ground or underground, and first floor in russian mind is the level on the ground, where the entry is. we simply count floors from right-above-the ground.