piso and suelo

Question

Please help me understand when to use piso (floor ) and suelo (floor).I' ve seen the sentence "fregar el suelo" and barrer el piso.Thanks.

Answer 1

ground/soil= suelo

floor = piso

Suelo is usually used in the sense of "ground" or "pavement" and piso is used for the tiled floors that we have in our houses Although sometimes you will hear them used interchangeably.

Excuse my english.

piso is used for the tiled floors ..... :) Although sometimes you will hear them used interchangeably :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 27, 2010

thanks - Dakie, Nov 27, 2010

Answer 2

In Mexico the usage is: The floor of a house/building is either Suelo or Piso. If you are talking about the level such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd floor, etc, it's Piso only. Ground level in a building is Planta Baja.

Answer 3

Many times in English I have used the expression "fall to the ground" when in fact, the person fell to the floor.

That is the case in Spanish. Suelo literally means ground, but it is very commonly used to mean the floor.

Piso literally means floor. You will see warning signs in buildings in the US that say:

Caution: Wet Floor

Cuidado: Piso mojado