1.
two-story (building)
A building with two floors.
二階建ての家に住んでいる。
I live in a two-story house.
二階建てのバスに乗った。
I rode a double-decker bus.
この建物は二階建てだ。
This building is two stories.
二階建て describes a building with two floors. It functions as a noun and also modifies nouns with の (二階建ての家).
WORD FORMATION:
二階 (second floor) + 建て (built structure). The 建て suffix indicates the number of stories.
STORY PATTERN ([number]階建て):
- 一階建て: one-story
- 二階建て: two-story (this word)
- 三階建て: three-story
- 五階建て: five-story
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 二階建ての家: two-story house
- 二階建てバス: double-decker bus
- 二階建ての一軒家: two-story detached house
NOTE:
Most residential houses in Japanese suburbs are 二階建て. The typical layout has living areas on the 一階 (first floor) and bedrooms on the 二階 (second floor).