Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[organica]

I want some clarification on high vs. tall:

There are many tall/short people in this group. (okay)
There are many tall buildings in this town. (okay)
There are many high mountains in this country. (okay)

Is "short buildings" possible as the opposite of tall buildings?
I've never encountered "short buildings."

You can say high-rise buildings but why not high buildings?

Is the opposite of "high mountains" "low mountains"?

What are other cases that you use "tall" to indicate height?

Thank you very much.

[Mister Micawber]

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We usually use low buildings.

High-rise is a noun. A high-rise is a tall building or structure. Normally, the function of the building is added, for example high-rise apartment or high-rise offices. (Wikipedia)

Yes, low mountains and high mountains. Or low hills... and high hills. And sometimes tall mountains.

The words are synonymous in meaning where they both indicate a large vertical physical dimension. I would suggest that tall tends to be used for structures with relatively small and/or isolated bases: mostly buildings, trees and people-- the Eiffel Tower, Michael Jordan, giraffes and Sequoias are tall, and so is my Tom Collins glass. Things with broader bases are high, like mountains and taxes.

Collocation is also important, I think. A random sample:

Tall/high bookcase
tall/high grass
tall/high stool
tall hat
high fence
high ceiling
high steps
high forehead
high waves

Though you have not asked about this, one important thing to note is that we always use high for position (rather than dimension): a high plateau/dormer window/cheekbone/branch
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_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[organica]

Very useful information. Thank you very very much!
Organica

[Tetsu]

I'm not American.

But I think tall is used when you see both something's top and base and feel its whole length. For example, when you say "a tall building," you see both its base and top and feel its whole length.

High is used when you see someting's top only without seeing its base and feel only something's height or elevation without feeling its whole length. For example, when you say "a high building," you see its top only without seeing its base, and feel only its height or elevation without feeling its whole length. Therefore, high is also used for the things like elevation above sea level, position, tone, score, and so on.
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Tetsu

[Mister Micawber]

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That's interesting, Tetsu-- I'll think about that. Thank you.
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[Tetsu]

I'm sorry I forgot two things.

(1) I think low is the opposite of high, and short is the opposite of tall. Therefore low and high have the same characteristics and so do short and tall. Therefore low can be used in the situation high can be used and short can be used in the situation tall can be used.

(2) I think low, tall, high mean only the vertical direction but short means both vertical direction and the directions other than vertical. For example, a tall table means only a table whose top is high but a short table means both (a) a table whose top is low and (b) a table whose horizontal length is small. Short that means (b) is the opposite of long.
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Tetsu

[Mister Micawber]

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Hi Tetsu,

I agree with your #1, but I think there is more to the low/short dichotomy (and I think we usually say a high/low table). It seems to me that the choice lies partly in the proportions of vertical to horizontal dimension. These are normal collocations:

A short candle
A short/low stool
A low table

Note that the ratio of height:base increases as we begin to prefer low over short. This is parallel to our earlier statements that as the base broadens (i.e. is not noticed; it is 'out of sight'), we tend to use high rather than tall (where the base is relatively narrower and we notice it; it is within our range of vision).
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_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[organica]

I understand... Then why is it "low buildings" as the opposite of tall buildings?

[Mister Micawber]

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1-- The ratio of perceptible height to perceptible base diameter decreases with decreasing height.

2-- There is no absolute consistency anyway-- Tetsu and I are searching out trends in the lexes.
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_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[Tetsu]

Hello organica

I think the opposite of tall buildings is short buildings because the opposite of tall is short. Tall and short are the same kind of concepts, and so are high and low. Tall and high are quite different concepts, and so are short and low.

I think the reason we rarely hear or read short buildings is simply because we rarely talk or write about short buildings since short buildings are much less important than tall buildings in our daily life.

Best wishes
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Tetsu

[Mister Micawber]

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Ms Google says:

16,800 English pages for "short buildings"
82,500 English pages for "low buildings".

Not really definitive for either term. Now let's try:

2,770,000 English pages for "tall buildings"
249,000 English pages for "high buildings".

Well, tall certainly wins here!
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's