Two related things, and English lets them share one word. First, the job: the act of putting tiles on a surface — 'the tiling took two days', 'he does tiling and plastering'. Second, the result: the tiled surface itself, all the tiles together as one thing — 'the tiling in the old bathroom is cracked'.

Two related things有兩件相關的事， and English lets them share one word英文讓它們共用同一個字。 First, the job第一個，是這個工作本身： the act of putting tiles on a surface也就是把磁磚鋪到一個表面上的動作 — 'the tiling took two days', 'he does tiling and plastering'——像'the tiling took two days'(鋪磁磚花了兩天)、'he does tiling and plastering'(他做鋪磁磚和粉刷的工作)。 Second, the result第二個，是結果： the tiled surface itself, all the tiles together as one thing也就是鋪好的表面本身，所有磁磚合起來當成一個整體 — 'the tiling in the old bathroom is cracked'——像'the tiling in the old bathroom is cracked'(老浴室的磁磚鋪面裂了)。

That second use is uncountable, which surprises students: you say 'the tiling is cracked', not 'the tilings are'. If you want to count, count tiles: 'three tiles are cracked'. Where you would say 磁磚 in Chinese for both the individual piece and the whole surface, English splits them — 'tile' for the piece, 'tiling' for the whole covered surface treated as one.

That second use is uncountable第二種用法是不可數的， which surprises students這會讓學生嚇一跳： you say 'the tiling is cracked', not 'the tilings are'要說'the tiling is cracked'，不會說'the tilings are'。 If you want to count如果你想要數數量， count tiles就數tile(磁磚)： 'three tiles are cracked'像'three tiles are cracked'(有三片磁磚裂了)。 Where you would say 磁磚 in Chinese for both the individual piece and the whole surface中文的「磁磚」不管講單片還是整個表面都是同一個詞， English splits them但英文把這兩個分開了 — 'tile' for the piece, 'tiling' for the whole covered surface treated as one——'tile'指單片，'tiling'指整個當成一體的鋪面。

There is also a maths and design use: a tiling is a pattern of shapes that fits together with no gaps and no overlaps, covering a flat surface forever. That is where you meet phrases like 'a tiling of the plane' or the famous Penrose tiling. Same idea underneath — pieces fitted edge to edge.

There is also a maths and design use還有一個數學和設計上的用法： a tiling is a pattern of shapes that fits together with no gaps and no overlapsa tiling指的是一種形狀彼此密合、沒有空隙也沒有重疊的圖案， covering a flat surface forever可以無限延伸鋪滿一個平面。 That is where you meet phrases like 'a tiling of the plane'這就是你會碰到'a tiling of the plane'(平面的鑲嵌)這種說法的地方 or the famous Penrose tiling或是著名的Penrose tiling(潘洛斯鑲嵌)。 Same idea underneath底層的概念是一樣的 — pieces fitted edge to edge——一片一片邊對邊拼接起來。