# car park and parking



## ladybugEnglishFan

What's the difference <between 'car park' and 'parking'>?

<Pertinent words included in the body. Nat, Moderator>


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## sound shift

In British English, a "car park" (noun) is a dedicated space where people park their cars.
"Parking" (noun) is an activity: "I won't drive into town. Parking is too difficult. I'll get the bus."
"Parking" is also the present participle of the verb "to park".


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## Miss Julie

"Parking" is a more general term. ("_Is there parking near the restaurant?_")

"Car park" is a specific place to leave your car while you are at the restaurant. (In British English; Americans use the term "_parking lot_.")


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## sound shift

Miss Julie said:


> "Parking" is a more general term. ("_Is there parking near the restaurant?_")


I agree. I forgot to mention this (although I would probably say "Is there *any *parking near the restaurant?") It means "Is there any possibility of parking near the restaurant?"; the questioner is asking about all types of parking places, not just car parks/parking lots. The answer to the question might be "Yes, there's plenty of on-street parking." "Parking" in this sense is uncountable, so we don't say *"a parking". Car parks/parking lots are by contrast countable.


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## ladybugEnglishFan

Thanx a lot!


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## Egmont

Mod note: the following posts have been moved to this thread from another thread: Parking a car : Are you going?

In AE, at least, this [place for parking cars] would be a *parking place*, not a *parking*. 

Also, a *parking lot* is an open area where many cars are parked. (This page has a photo of a parking lot.) You cannot use this term for a single parking place.


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## torito

OK. I have corrected it in my first post.

Thank you very much.


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## Sparky Malarky

Egmont said:


> In AE, at least, this would be a *parking place*, not a *parking*.
> 
> Also, a *parking lot* is an open area where many cars are parked. (This page has a photo of a parking lot.) You cannot use this term for a single parking place.



I agree.

In British English, this is a *car park*.


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## Parla

Around here, we call that place on the street a *parking space*, not a "parking place".


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## torito

So, we have a parking place and a parking space to talk about individual places.

And a parking lot (AE) or car park (BE) is an open area where there are many parking spaces or parking places.

Thank you.


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## Thelb4

torito said:


> So, we have a parking place and a parking space in AE and a car park in BE to talk about individual places.
> 
> And a parking lot is an open area where there are many parking spaces, parking places and car parks.
> 
> Thank you.



No, "car park" is the same as "parking lot", and it contains many "parking spaces". (in BE)


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## DocPenfro

> a car park in BE to talk about individual places.



No, the BE _car park_ is equivalent to the AE _parking lot_. <deletion>


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## torito

OK. Perfect.

Thank you very much.


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## wandle

The term 'car park' is derived from the military expression 'artillery park', which was a field or open space where guns were ranged. 'Car park' covers any place specifically set aside for cars to be left temporarily.
It is a broader term than 'parking lot'. 'Car park' includes underground and multi-storey car parks, neither of which could be described as a 'parking lot'.

Another point is that native speakers would not say 'at a parking'.
We would say: 'when parking' or 'at a car park' or 'at a parking space'.


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## torito

wandle said:


> The term 'car park' is derived from the military expression 'artillery park', which was a field or open space where guns were ranged. 'Car park' covers any place specifically set aside for cars to be left temporarily.
> It is a broader term than 'parking lot'. 'Car park' includes underground and multi-storey car parks, neither of which could be described as a 'parking lot'.
> 
> Another point is that native speakers would not say 'at a parking'.
> We would say: 'when parking' or 'at a car park' or 'at a parking space'.



Great for the first paragraph.

2nd paragraph: What do you mean? Where have you seen 'at a parking'?

Thank you.


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## wandle

> Where have you seen 'at a parking'?


At the head of this thread. [The original title of the thread started by torito was 'At a parking: Are you going or coming?']


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## zaffy

1. Are these correct?

AmE:  There was a huge parking lot with hundreds of parking spaces.
BrE:    There was a huge car park with hundreds of parking spaces.

2. You said above that a car park (which is BrE) can also refer to multi-storey or underground ones and a parking lot (which is AmE) can't. So what do you call them in AmE? Parking garage?


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## DonnyB

zaffy said:


> 1. Are these correct?
> 
> AmE:  There was a huge parking lot with hundreds of parking spaces.
> BrE:    There was a huge car park with hundreds of parking spaces.
> 
> 2. You said above that a car park (which is BrE) can also refer to multi-storey or underground ones and a parking lot (which is AmE) can't. So what do you call them in AmE? Parking garage?


1. is correct in BE, except that we'd generally omit _"parking"_ as being redundant there and just say "... hundreds of spaces".


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## kentix

Here's a previous thread about multi-story parking structures.

garage (multi-storied parking space)


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## AnythingGoes

zaffy said:


> 2. You said above that a car park (which is BrE) can also refer to multi-storey or underground ones and a parking lot (which is AmE) can't. So what do you call them in AmE? Parking garage?


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## zaffy

And for AM speakers a single parking space within a parking lot is just 'a space' too like for BE speakers?


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## Myridon

zaffy said:


> And for AM speakers a single parking space within a parking lot is just 'a space' too like for BE speakers?


"Parking space" is not wrong.  It was unnecessary in "The parking lot has (parking) spaces available ((for parking) (parked) cars)."  The first "parking" does the job for all those (words).


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## zaffy

And if you can't park your car, driving around the car park/parking lot, because all the spaces are occupied, what might you say describing that situation? 

-All the parking spaces were busy I had nowhere to park my car. 
-All the parking spaces were taken I had nowhere to park my car. 
-All the parking spaces were occupied I had nowhere to park my car.


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## Edinburgher

busy 
taken 
occupied 
full


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## kentix

_-All the parking spaces were taken I had nowhere to park my car._

That's the one of those three I would say.

Probably more common is just to say _"the parking lot was full" _or_ "I couldn't find a space to park."



_


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## zaffy

And do you like this sentence that a Canadian said? Wouldn't it be more natural to say "find a parking space" rather than "find parking"?


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## Miss Julie

zaffy said:


> And do you like this sentence that a Canadian said? Wouldn't it be more natural to say "find a parking space" rather than "find parking"?




Question 1: Yes.
Question 2: No.


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## zaffy

So in the first example 'parking' is a gerund, and the second a noun, right? Does the second example work?

A: Why are you so scared of driving?
B: Because I hate parking.   

A: Why are you late?
B: Sorry, I couldn't find parking.


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## DonnyB

zaffy said:


> So in the first example 'parking' is a gerund, and the second a noun, right? Does the second example work?
> 
> A: Why are you so scared of driving?
> B: Because I hate parking.
> 
> A: Why are you late?
> B: Sorry, I couldn't find parking.


Not in BE, no.  You need "Sorry, I couldn't find a parking space".


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## Miss Julie

It works in AE.


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## kentix

I couldn't find (any available) parking.

It could be space in a parking lot, a parking deck, or even on-street parking.


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## natkretep

zaffy said:


> And for AM speakers a single parking space within a parking lot is just 'a space' too like for BE speakers?


I can say space, but I can also say 'parking bay'.



And in Singapore, we also do unusual things. The area for parking cars is the _carpark _(often spelt as one word), and the individual spaces are _lots - eg _a 100-lot carpark (Contact | goodmanceramicstudio)


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## zaffy

And do you like this sign in front of a car dealership in Lafayette, Louisiana?
Would "Customer parking lot"  or "Customer car park" work on a sign too?


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## heypresto

It's perfectly fine, in BE at least:


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## Edinburgher

zaffy said:


> Would "Customer parking lot" or "Customer car park" work on a sign too?


"Customer parking lot" would definitely not be used in BE.  It might in AE, but I think it would be unlikely on a sign.
"Customer car park" would (I'm pretty sure) never be used in AE.  In BE, it'd be fine, including on a sign.


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## Myridon

zaffy said:


> And do you like this sign in front of a car dealership in Lafayette, Louisiana?
> Would "Customer parking lot"  or "Customer car park" work on a sign too?


This sign often marks an area of the lot for customer parking (not employee parking) so it's not exactly the same use of "parking". Conceivably, you could have a sign that said "Parking lot for customer parking".  Regardless, the word "lot" isn't needed as you can see what it is.  The sign is telling you what it's for.


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## zaffy

Myridon said:


> "Parking lot for customer parking"


I see. So "parking" in "customer parking" is simply a verb, isn't it?


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## Edinburgher

zaffy said:


> So "parking" in "customer parking" is simply a verb, isn't it?


No.  It's a gerund, effectively a noun, and "customer" is an attributive noun, effectively an adjective.


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## kentix

Signs are as short as possible. Those are the only two words needed to get the point across.

This area is for *customer parking*.
This is the *customer parking* lot.
*Customer parking* should be done here.
These spaces are reserved for *customer parking*.

It could be any of those or something else. But in reality it's none of them. It's just a short label with the two key words. I doubt there's an entire lot just for customer parking. It looks like they are the closest spaces to the front door, which are usually reserved for customers for convenience. You want them to be happy.


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## elroy

"customer parking" is broad.  It doesn't specify whether it's a parking *lot*, a parking *garage*, or something else (maybe they only have two parking spaces for customers; that's not a parking lot, but it does provide customer parking).
"car park" means nothing in US English.


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## zaffy

Am I right with these?

This picture shows:
BrE: "a car park" or more specifically "a multi-storey car park"
AmE: "a multi-storey parking garage"







This picture shows:
BrE: "a car park" or more specifically "an underground car park"
AmE: "an underground parking garage"


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## Miss Julie

zaffy said:


> Am I right with these?
> 
> This picture shows:
> BrE: "a car park" or more specifically "a multi-storey car park"
> AmE: "a multi-storey parking garage"
> 
> This picture shows:
> BrE: "a car park" or more specifiacally "an underground car park"
> AmE: "an underground parking garage"



In AmE:

_Multi-level_ parking garage.
Correct.


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## Uncle Jack

zaffy said:


> This picture shows:
> BrE: "a car park" or more specifiacally "an underground car park"


You cannot tell it's underground. It could simply be part of a multi-storey. However, your BrE choice of expressions is correct.


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## zaffy

Miss Julie said:


> _Multi-level_ parking garage.



That is, you prefer "Multi-*level *parking garage" rather than "Multi-*storey* parking garage", right?


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## zaffy

Uncle Jack said:


> It could simply be part of a multi-storey.


Would you accept "multi-*level* car park" in BE?


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## Miss Julie

zaffy said:


> That is, you prefer "Multi-*level *parking garage" rather than "Multi-*storey* parking garage", right?



Multi-level is definitely preferred in AmE, but multi-story (without an 'e'...I know--crazy American spelling) would not be wrong.


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## JulianStuart

Miss Julie said:


> Multi-level is definitely preferred in AmE, but multi-story (without an 'e'...I know--crazy American spelling) would not be wrong.


(It's the BE spelling that's crazy, given the etymology related to _history_)


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## Uncle Jack

zaffy said:


> Would you accept "multi-*level* car park" in BE?


No, not really. Multi-storey is too ingrained to think of using anything else. Note that both in this post and in post #43 I omitted the words "car park". "Multi-storey" is well enough understood to not need the two extra words (although they are included more often than not).


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## zaffy

Uncle Jack said:


> I omitted the words "car park". "Multi-storey" is well enough understood


So if you heard this, would you only think of a car park? Not, for example, an office block?

_A new multi-storey is being built in my neighbourhood. _


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## Uncle Jack

If used on its own like that, only a car park. However, "multi-storey" as an adjective can be placed in front of a wide range of nouns and, as I said, the words "car park" are usually included.


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## Roxxxannne

If I were actually talking about the choice of where to park at a large suburban shopping mall, I wouldn't use the whole phrase 'multi-level/multi-story parking garage.' I'd say "I'm going to go straight to the parking garage instead of driving around here [in the outdoor lot] all day looking for a spot near Nordstrom."  I might even say "I'm going to go straight to the garage behind Nordstrom instead of ..."  
[Nordstrom is a big department store chain.]


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## kentix

I would call it a parking deck. If you say that, it's a given that it is multi-story. I'm not sure I've heard multi-level commonly used. But then again, neither multi-story nor multi-level are necessary when you say parking deck.

But I wouldn't say _underground_ parking deck. That's an underground parking garage.

parking deck | Definition | Meaning
Definition of parking deck​A parking deck is an unenclosed multilevel structure designed for parking cars or other vehicles. The floors inside are connected by ramps, or may be sloped themselves forming a continuous interconnection between levels.


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## Roxxxannne

I've heard 'parking deck' now that you mention it, but 'parking garage' sounds more 'normal.'  I wonder if this is regional variation.


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## kentix

According to "the internet" it's more of a Southern thing. I'm not sure how much I believe that, though. I've lived in the South and out of the South and haven't noticed a difference, but maybe there is one.


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## JulianStuart

I would always associate the word _deck_ with just one layer/story/storey of a structure so such a use (multilevel) would confuse me


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## kentix

Here's an airport in Michigan that uses the term.

Gerald R. Ford Airport | Parking Deck Roof Addition | Fishbeck

And Syracuse, New York.

Syracuse Hancock International Airport to undergo parking deck rehabilitation project

And Newark, New Jersey

Fire Tears Through Newark Airport Parking Deck, Torches More Than a Dozen Vehicles


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## lingobingo

zaffy said:


> So if you heard this, would you only think of a car park? Not, for example, an office block?
> 
> _A new multi-storey is being built in my neighbourhood. _


Yes.


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