Storey or Story?

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Storey or Story?

What is the difference between "storey" and "story"?
  • "Story" means "narrative" or "tale." For example:
    • Please tell me a bedtime story.
  • In the US, "story" also means "the level of a building." However, in the UK, "level of a building" is written "storey." For example:
    • A five-story building
    • A five-storey building
story or storey?
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More about "Story" and "Storey"

The plural of "story" is "stories." The plural of "storey" is "storeys." For example:
  • With 163 storeys, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world.
    • (Here, the word "storeys" is only correct for Brits. Americans would write "163 stories.")

More Examples with "Story" and "Storey"

Here are two more examples to show the difference between "story" and "storey":
  • Beowulf is an epic traditional good-versus-evil story. Beowulf battles three monsters throughout the story.
    • (Both Brits and Americans use "story" to mean "narrative" or "tale.")
  • Did you hear the story about the bungee jumper who died because he miscalculated the height of the each storey before diving off a building?
    • (In this example, the word "story" is correct for Americans and Brits. However, the word "storey" is only correct for those following the British writing conventions. In the US, there is no such word as "storey.")

First Floor or Ground Floor?

Americans call the ground-level floor of a building the "first floor," but the British call it the "ground floor." (The star on the lift buttons below indicates the ground-level floor.)


Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

What is Cock and Bull story? adverse or averse? affect or effect? appraise or apprise? avenge or revenge? bare or bear? complement or compliment? dependant or dependent? discreet or discrete? disinterested or uninterested? e.g. or i.e.? envy or jealousy? imply or infer? its or it's? material or materiel? poisonous or venomous? practice or practise? principal or principle? tenant or tenet? who's or whose? What are nouns? List of easily confused words