story
A1Neutral. Used across all registers from casual speech to formal writing.
Definition
Meaning
An account of imaginary or real events told for entertainment or information; a narrative.
A level of a building (UK); a report in a newspaper or on a news broadcast; a false statement or lie (colloquial); the plot or sequence of events in a novel, film, etc.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The meaning is highly dependent on context. In architecture, it refers to a floor level (UK). In journalism, it's a news item. In everyday use, it most commonly means a narrative. The colloquial meaning 'lie' is informal.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
In British English, 'story' can mean a floor or level of a building (e.g., 'a three-storey house'). In American English, the word for this is 'story' but spelled and pronounced identically, though the distinct term 'floor' is more common. The spelling 'storey' (UK) vs. 'story' (US) for the building level is the key orthographic difference.
Connotations
Generally consistent. The informal use meaning 'lie' ('Don't tell stories!') is slightly more common in UK English, but understood in US English.
Frequency
The narrative sense is equally frequent. The building level sense is far more frequent in UK English due to the distinct spelling and common usage in property descriptions.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
tell SO a storystory about NPstory of NPstory that CLAUSEVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “the same old story”
- “the story of my life”
- “that's another story”
- “to cut a long story short”
- “a different story”
- “end of story”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to a narrative used in branding or marketing ('the company's story', 'customer success story').
Academic
Used in literary criticism ('the story's protagonist'), historiography ('the official story of the event'), or qualitative research ('collecting participants' stories').
Everyday
The most common context: telling anecdotes, discussing films/books, or explaining events ('What's the story with the meeting?').
Technical
In software development, a 'user story' is a requirement expressed from an end-user perspective. In journalism, a piece of news.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The documentary sought to story the lives of the fishermen.
American English
- The film beautifully stories the migration of the monarch butterfly.
adjective
British English
- He has a great story-telling ability. (hyphenated compound adjective)
- The story-led documentary was compelling.
American English
- She's a master of story structure. (noun used attributively)
- It was a story-driven video game.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- My grandmother tells me a bedtime story.
- It's a short story about a dog.
- I read a story in a book.
- Is that a true story?
- The film has a very complicated story.
- He gave the police a completely different story.
- She wrote a story for the school magazine.
- The news story was on the front page.
- The documentary presented a compelling story of human resilience.
- His version of events is contradicted by the whole story.
- The novel's story unfolds over three generations.
- The company's origin story is key to its brand identity.
- The data alone is dry; we need to build a narrative story around it to engage stakeholders.
- Her testimony added a crucial new layer to the already complex story of the merger.
- The artist's work is deeply concerned with the stories we tell about national identity.
- The politician's carefully crafted story began to unravel under scrutiny.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a **STOREY** of a library building. Each floor (**storey**) is filled with books, and every book contains a **story**.
Conceptual Metaphor
LIFE IS A STORY ('She's starting a new chapter in her life'), COMMUNICATION IS TELLING ('Let me tell you what happened'), and FALSEHOOD IS A FICTIONAL NARRATIVE ('He's spinning a story').
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'history' (история). 'Story' is primarily повесть, рассказ, история (as narrative).
- The building level 'storey' (этаж) is a false friend for the narrative 'story'.
- The phrase 'What's the story?' translates to 'В чем дело?' not 'Какая история?'.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'history' when you mean a short narrative (e.g., 'He told me a funny history'*).
- Confusing 'story' (narrative) with 'storey' (UK building level) in writing.
- Overusing 'story' for factual reports where 'report', 'account', or 'article' is more precise.
Practice
Quiz
In which context does 'story' specifically mean a floor of a building?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
In British English, 'story' is a narrative, and 'storey' is a floor of a building. In American English, 'story' is used for both meanings, though 'floor' is more common for the building level.
Yes, informally, especially in phrases like 'Don't tell stories!' or 'That's just a story,' it can mean an invented or false account.
Yes, in software development and project management (e.g., Agile/Scrum methodologies), a 'user story' is a brief, simple description of a feature told from the perspective of the end user.
Informally, you can say 'What's the story?' or 'What's the story with [something]?' This means 'What is happening?' or 'What is the explanation for this?'