In the British system G/F is the ground level and 1/F means the second floor, while the US and Japanese/Korean systems call the entrance level floor 1 — the schemes sit a full level apart. For taxis, say ground floor, by the entrance, or send the unit number: 1108 is usually level 11.
1. G/F: Ground Floor, the level at street level
G/F stands for Ground Floor: the level you stand on when you push open the front door. It is the British-style convention, used in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India and most of Europe (rez-de-chaussée in France, EG in Germany, planta baja in Spain). On building plans this level is often simply marked 0.
The American system (used in the US and Canada, and adopted by Japan and Korea) has no G/F: the level you enter from the street is the 1st Floor. The two systems number the same building a full level apart — and that offset is the root of every floor mix-up.
Look at the front door. The level you walk into from the street is Ground in the British system, and floor 1 in the American and Japanese/Korean systems. Every other number counts up from there.
2. 1/F: in British-style countries, it means the second floor
This is the classic trap. 1/F in Hong Kong, Level 1 in a Kuala Lumpur office tower and the First Floor of a London shop all mean one level above the entrance. If you grew up with street-level-1, your instinct walks you into the shop at street level, while the person you are meeting means the level up one flight of stairs — which is exactly how I ended up waiting twenty minutes by the wrong staircase.
It works the other way too: someone from the UK hearing "meet me on the first floor" in the US will also end up on the wrong level if they climb one flight out of habit.
3. LG, M, B1: the other letters on the elevator panel
- LG (Lower Ground): a half-basement level, one notch above B1, usually with half its windows still above ground. In hillside condos (very common in Penang) the car park is often on LG.
- M (Mezzanine): an intermediate half-level between two floors, common in shopping malls.
- B1 / B2 (Basement): underground car park or basement retail.
- P / P1 / P2 (Parking): parking levels.
- L (Lobby): the lobby level.
- R (Roof): rooftop.
Also, "G+1" or "G+2" in rental listings refers to the storey count of the building: G+1 means ground floor plus one level, two storeys in total — not a unit number.
4. A quick reference table by region
| Region | Street level is written | Meaning of "floor 1" |
|---|---|---|
| UK, Ireland | G / Ground Floor | One above street level |
| Australia, New Zealand | G / GF | One above street level |
| Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India | G/F or G | One above street level |
| US, Canada | 1st Floor / Lobby | Street level |
| Japan, Korea | 1F / 1층 | Street level |
| Continental Europe | EG / 0 / planta baja | Usually one above street level (e.g. 1er étage in France, 1. Stock in Germany) |
Mental shortcut: the British system counts from 0, the American and Japanese/Korean systems count from 1. When you see G/F, translate it to 0 and add one to everything above it.
5. Japan and Korea: 1F is at street level, with one classic trap
Japan and Korea use the American system: 1F/1층 is the level you walk into, and a room listed as 5F really is four flights up from the entrance. But both countries share one classic quirk: the missing 4th floor. Because "four" sounds like "death" in both languages, many hospitals, hotels and apartment buildings jump the elevator straight from 3 to 5, and in Korea the button is often labelled F instead of 4. Judging a building's height by counting buttons will mislead you.
6. Taxis and meet-ups: how to describe a floor without errors
Across systems, the number itself is unreliable — use landmarks and unit numbers instead:
- Describe by reference point: don't say "I'm on the second floor"; say "the floor one level above where you walk in from the street". Reference points work across systems; numbers don't.
- Send the unit number: Malaysian condo unit numbers usually encode the floor — unit 1108 is typically level 11, unit 08. Sending the full unit number to a driver or friend beats any verbal explanation.
- Meet at the lobby: for hotels and malls, "ground floor lobby" or "the lobby by the front desk" is the least error-prone meeting point.
The same applies to taxis: "hotel lobby" as a pickup point is safer than a floor number. If the driver asks "which floor", "ground floor, by the entrance" is almost never wrong.
7. Booking hotels and guesthouses: three things to check
- Read "ground floor room" correctly: in UK and European guesthouses it means no stairs — a plus for heavy luggage or families with small children and seniors, not a drawback.
- Phrase floor requests precisely: ask for "a room on a higher level" for quiet, or "ground floor or low level" for easy access. Don't just write a number, since the same number means different levels in different systems.
- Learn the building's convention on day one: ride the elevator once and check whether the entrance level is marked G, L or 1 — then you won't hesitate before a meet-up later.
No system is right or wrong; they are just different. Keep one principle — the entrance level is zero in the British system, one in the American one — and every other abbreviation is just a variation on it.
Frequently asked questions
What floor is the first floor in the UK?
It is one level above the Ground Floor — equivalent to the second floor in the American system. The street level itself is called the Ground Floor or G/F.
Are G/F and 1/F the same level?
No. G/F is the entrance level at street height; 1/F is one level above it. In British-style countries, seeing 1/F means climbing one more flight of stairs.
What's the difference between LG and B1?
LG (Lower Ground) is a half-basement with part of its windows still above ground, so it gets some daylight. B1 is fully underground, usually deeper, and is typically used for parking.
I'm meeting someone at '1/F' in Malaysia — which level?
Most local buildings follow the British convention, so 1/F usually means one level above the entrance. The safe move is to meet at the lobby instead, or exchange full unit numbers — in Malaysian condos the first digits of the unit number usually indicate the floor.