A tenement is a large old apartment building cut up into many small flats, usually cheap, usually crowded, usually in the poor part of a city. The word carries its conditions with it: when you read tenement you should picture narrow stairs, thin walls, a shared toilet on the landing, several families where an architect planned one. That is why it almost never appears in an advertisement — no landlord calls their building a tenement — but appears constantly in history books, novels, and journalism about poverty.

A tenement is a large old apartment buildingTenement(廉價分租舊公寓)指的是一棟老舊的大型公寓建築 cut up into many small flats被切割成很多小小的單位， usually cheap, usually crowded, usually in the poor part of a city通常很便宜、很擁擠，通常位在城市裡比較窮的區域。 The word carries its conditions with it這個字自帶著它的居住條件 — when you read tenement you should picture narrow stairs, thin walls——讀到tenement時你腦中該浮現窄窄的樓梯、薄薄的牆， a shared toilet on the landing樓梯間共用的廁所， several families where an architect planned one還有建築師原本只設計給一戶住的空間卻擠進了好幾戶人家。 That is why it almost never appears in an advertisement這就是為什麼它幾乎不會出現在廣告裡 — no landlord calls their building a tenement ———沒有房東會把自己的房子叫做tenement—— but appears constantly in history books, novels, and journalism about poverty但在講貧窮的歷史書、小說，和新聞報導裡卻一直出現。

It is strongly tied to particular times and places, and this is the part students miss. In American English it belongs above all to the crowded immigrant buildings of New York in the late 1800s and early 1900s; there is a famous Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. In Scotland the word is entirely neutral and simply means a stone apartment building of several storeys — a Glasgow lawyer may live in a very nice tenement flat and think nothing of it. So the same word is an accusation in one country and a plain description in another.

It is strongly tied to particular times and places這個字跟特定的時代和地方緊緊綁在一起， and this is the part students miss這正是學生最容易忽略的地方。 In American English it belongs above all to the crowded immigrant buildings of New York in the late 1800s and early 1900s在美式英文裡，它主要指的是十九世紀末、二十世紀初紐約那些擠滿移民的建築； there is a famous Tenement Museum on the Lower East SideLower East Side(下東城)還有一個很有名的Tenement Museum(廉租公寓博物館)。 In Scotland the word is entirely neutral在蘇格蘭這個字完全是中性的 and simply means a stone apartment building of several storeys就只是指一棟好幾層樓的石造公寓大樓 — a Glasgow lawyer may live in a very nice tenement flat and think nothing of it——一個格拉斯哥的律師可能就住在一間很不錯的tenement公寓裡，完全不覺得有什麼。 So the same word is an accusation in one country所以同一個字在一個國家是一種指控 and a plain description in another在另一個國家卻只是平淡的描述。

There is also a narrow legal use, closest to where the word came from: in law, a tenement is any property that is held — land, a building, or even a right attached to land. You will only meet this one in legal documents, but it explains the shape of the word.

There is also a narrow legal use還有一個範圍很窄的法律用法， closest to where the word came from最接近這個字原本的來源： in law, a tenement is any property that is held在法律上，tenement指的是任何一種被持有的財產 — land, a building, or even a right attached to land——土地、建築物，甚至是附屬在土地上的某種權利。 You will only meet this one in legal documents你只會在法律文件裡碰到這個用法， but it explains the shape of the word但它解釋了這個字原本的形狀。