Vocabulary

Row vs Column – Differences between Column vs Row

Row vs Column – How to distinguish “Row” from “Column”?

Have you ever looked at the Table icon on your taskbar? Sometimes, you may make mistakes and want to change some rows and columns. Unfortunately, you don’t know how to fix them because rows and columns are so much similar. Don’t worry, many people find it difficult to distinguish between these two terms because each table has many rows and columns, and the two terms are often used together. Sure, one is horizontal, and the other is vertical, but what exactly do they mean?

Row vs Column - Differences between Column vs Row

 

Row vs. Column: What are their definitions?

ROWS are a horizontal arrangement of data, objects, objects, etc., running from left to right. Meanwhile, COLUMNS is a vertical arrangement of data moving from top to bottom.

Rows and columns are often used to refer to tables in worksheets such as Microsoft Excel. However, columns can also be found in theaters and cinemas. The term also means chairs aligned horizontally in front of the stage or screen. If you look at the ticket that says “3rd row”, you can immediately see the seats in the “horizontal line” of the 3rd row when counting from the stage.

Newspaper columns appear in everyday life. There, the articles are divided into columns because they are written close together from top to bottom. The pillars of the Parthenon in Athens were also vertical, so it is not surprising that they are also called columns.

If you look at the worksheet containing the rows and columns, you can see that the rows are represented by numbers where 1 is the first line. On the other hand, columns are represented by letters, A being the first column, B being the second column, and so on.

Another big difference lies in the rows and columns used in the database. Rows usually contain categories such as gender, name, and age. Meanwhile, the column has information about something or someone listed in the row.

Examples for Row and Column in sentences/phrases

“Row” examples “Column” examples
  • The children are standing in a row.
  • A group of people is standing in a row at the back of the room.
  • Building a row of houses alongside the river.
  • Students are standing in the front row of the hall.
  • The vegetables were planted in rows.
  • Let’s sit in the back row.
  • Insert rows between existing ones.
  • The column of “Weekly Recipes” in a newspaper.
  • The column in front of the building
  • A column of smoke rose from the chimney.
  • The figures in the columns give an idea of how the budget is allocated.
  • The article spread two columns.
  • You can find the information you need at the bottom of the right-hand column of this page.

Synonyms for Rows and Columns

There are always other words and expressions that you can use interchangeably with “rows” and “columns,” but mind you that the replacement is highly dependent on the context.

  • a column on the newspaper can be replaced by a section 
  • a column that decorates a building can be replaced by a monument
  • a row of people or things can be replaced by a line

 

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Joe Fresh

Thanks, that really helped to clarify the concept!