A question about living in an apartment building/block of flats - for native English speakers.
I have edited this question to make it clearer what I mean.
The block of flats/apartment building I live in has three main entrance doors each with a number. Each of these entrance doors leads to a staircase in which there are a number of apartments. Let’s say I live on Monkville Road. My apartment building might then consist of Monkville Road 2, 4 and 6. In Danish we refer to each of these “units” as a staircase. So in Denmark you could ask “How many staircases are there in your block of flats?” I’m looking for a term with a similar meaning in English.
How would you in English naturally express the following two sentences?:
1.
“I know many of the people in my staircase.” meaning the people who live in the apartments that share the same staircase and main entrance door.
2.
“There is a notice board in the staircase where tenant information (information that is relevant for tenants) is posted.”
Thanks for your help!
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 10
1
I used to live in a block of flats in England which had an upper level corridor, off which there were many flats. I talked about the neighbours in/down/along my "corridor", which made sense in that context.
If a speaker understands the Danish system, then your use of "staircase" would be natural. If we didn't know about it, then I would recommend using "block" with someone familiar with the UK.
We also have "tenement" which may be closer to the Danish design but sounds old-fashioned now.
1
I know many people in my block (of flats). I know a lot of people on my floor (but this only refers to one floor of the block of flats).
(You could also say “There is a notice board in the staircase where tenant information (information that is relevant for tenants) is posted.) Do you mean: Can you also say - "There....
The expression "You could also say" refers to an additional or alternative way of saying the same idea. And you are talking about two different ideas, right?
"There is a notice board in the hall (possibly hallway) where tenant information is posted."
Hope that helps,
Ali
1
US:
I can't think of a universally similar term, because apartment buildings are not uniform here. You would likely need to describe your building first (e.g., "We call each section of the building a 'staircase' because each entrance has its own stairway. To get from one section to anther, you have to go all the way down and then back up into a different staircase.") And then you could say "I know everyone in my staircase." I would probably say "There's a notice board inside each entrance."
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