zweiter Stock
The German phrase for "second floor" is zweiter Stock.
zweiter Stock refers to the level of a building that is two floors above the ground level. You can also use zweite Etage as a synonym for this level.
Which one should you use?
Note that in German, erster Stock refers to the floor above the ground floor, unlike in American English where "first floor" often refers to the ground level.
How does it change in a sentence?
When you want to say you are "on" the second floor, use the preposition in with the dative case, which results in the phrase im zweiten Stock.
Did you know?
- While Stock refers to the level of a building, the same word Stock is also used in German to describe a walking cane or a walking stick.
- The word Etage is a loanword from French, which often gives the description of a floor a more sophisticated or posh tone than the Germanic Stock.
- When using an elevator in Germany, the button for the ground floor is marked with a 0 rather than a 1.
