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I frequently see statements that refer to something later in the text that use a phrase such as "the below information". Is it more correct instead to say "the information below" (or "the following information")?

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  • I would assume you also find "the above figure" to be a problem? I personally correct authors constantly in using these terms as adjectives.
    – way0utwest
    Dec 10, 2010 at 16:11
  • @way0utwest: Yes, I prefer "The frame around my name in the question above is ornate." rather than "the above question."
    – Dennis Williamson
    Dec 10, 2010 at 16:18
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    When someone writes "the below information", I surmise that their native language is not English.
    – GEdgar
    Nov 17, 2011 at 2:50
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    @GEdgar - Or the writer is trying to sound "businesslike", and they expect "the below information" to help them "synergise the value add".
    – nnnnnn
    May 14, 2016 at 1:54
  • Intuitively I feel like I can I simply use "the below" (without any further words / nouns). Is it the case? For example, can I write in a email: "let's discuss the below" ? Should I ask another question?
    – Eugene Lycenok
    Jun 8, 2021 at 7:26

6 Answers 6

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As a preposition, "below" would be written after "information" as a stranded preposition. While typically prepositions would precede the noun, stranded prepositions can occur "in interrogative or relative clauses, where the interrogative or relative pronoun that is the preposition's complement is moved to the start".

We see such a stranded preposition in the case of "the information below," and therefore the preposition follows it. By contrast, in the case of "the following information", an adjective is used to describe the noun and therefore may precede it.

In short, "the below information" is not generally accepted to be correct, because "below" is not universally acknowledged as an adjective. Nevertheless, some dictionaries specifically list this as an exception.

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  • 12
    Instead of repeating your opinion, a more constructive contribution to this discussion would be demonstrating that "below" is acknowledged as an adjective.
    – Paul Lammertsma
    Nov 16, 2011 at 16:23
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    My answer is based upon the fact that Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary and Wiktionary all only list "below" as a preposition and an adverb. I don't see the need to get so upset about this.
    – Paul Lammertsma
    Nov 16, 2011 at 22:24
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    Two points:1- you say "prepositions follow the noun". That is opposite of most understandings of the words in that statement. 2-adjectives can sometimes be placed after what it modifies - 'attorney general'.
    – Mitch
    Nov 16, 2011 at 23:31
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    Prepositions, by their very nature and definition, never follow the noun they modify. ‘Below’ is an adverb in the information below.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Dec 25, 2013 at 10:53
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    @JanusBahsJacquet Here's something to ponder: consider how you cannot swap in below for any adjective in “Their eager young eyes stared at the stormy grey sea.” Because it cannot substitute for an adjective in syntactic tests such as these without yielding an ungrammatical result, I believe that this failure provides strong evidence that below is not an adjective at all.
    – tchrist ♦
    Jul 8, 2017 at 17:57
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An Ngram reveals which is more common...

the below information

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    +1: And adding to the Ngram "the information above" and "the above information" shows that while "above" can go both before and after the noun, "below" can only go after.
    – Peter Shor
    Nov 17, 2011 at 3:33
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    I see "the below information" a lot in texts that can be identified as coming from non-native speakers/those that have English as a second-language. E.g in Hindi you would use the word order"Below given information", and it seems this influences the usage by Hindi native speakers (comparable in size to all native English users), of English as a second language .
    – Anthon
    Sep 18, 2018 at 8:36
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Merriam-Webster lists a relevant definition:

below (adjective): written or discussed lower on the same page or on a following page

Given this, there is nothing wrong with “the below information”.

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  • I hadn't considered that it could be an adjective. Random House doesn't list it; perhaps this is where the confusion comes from?
    – Paul Lammertsma
    Aug 13, 2010 at 1:09
  • It is at least much less widely used as an adjective than as an adverb.
    – F'x
    Feb 22, 2011 at 14:42
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    I want 'below' to be used as an adjective, but I think it is not generally accepted ('bad form'), buit the position is still in question; one can have adjectives (rarely) come after the noun. But I feel that this particular 'below' is more adverbial. The M-W definition doesn't give an example and OED doesn't list an adjectival entry. The related OED entry fro 'beneath' gives the adjective as 'rare' (with a Shakespeare quote). A newspaper editor would fire a writer who tried to use "the below information", whatever ones justification might be.
    – Mitch
    Nov 16, 2011 at 16:35
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    @Mitch: I don't like the sound of it myself, but I think that it is becoming / will become more common / acceptable. I don't like the quote verb 'be like', but I'm resigned to its use. That the usage is cited in M-W surely 'legalises' it - absences from other respected dictionaries are not final proofs. Notice that M-W only licenses the domain of written / printed materials.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Apr 10, 2013 at 11:08
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"He lives on the below floor" or "He lives on the floor below"? -- If not grammar, at least usage is against the first mentioned way of saying it.

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    The MW sense for the attributive-position adjective (below {adjective}: written or discussed lower on the same page or on a following page) does not sanction domains outside the written / printed page, I'd guess in line with usage.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Apr 10, 2013 at 11:02
  • He lives on the below floor means He lives on the floor that we call below. Like, he lives on the top floor or he lives on the ground floor.
    – Oscar Bravo
    Mar 4, 2019 at 16:05
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Usage of the former is often seen in a corporate communication when the author wishes to add a degree of formality or authority to the explanation. For example, 'see data in the below table'. Ironic, really, as instead of adding gravitas it results in the author sounding generic and bland.

Personally, I think it sounds unnatural, and forced, as it is rarely used in speech. You'd never, for example, respond to a query as to where a physical item was in relation to another by saying it 'is on the below shelf'.

One of those phrases used in a corporate context that doesn't exist in real life.

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  • I have no recollection of having seen the first usage. The second is common in written communication.
    – anongoodnurse
    Jan 24, 2014 at 8:41
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    +1, I would agree, although below <noun> is wrong, in my mind, even though I am seeing it more often in (US English) technical/business/official texts. However, above <noun> is more corporate than <noun> above - see It's ok to say “the above image” but not “the below image”
    – Greenonline
    Jun 13, 2017 at 9:33
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The fact that the dictionary lists the word 'below' as an adjective doesn't mean it's correct. Dictionaries are a reflection of usage, both correct and incorrect. The reason that the word 'below' may be listed as an adjective reflects the overwhealming incorrect usage of the word. To make proper use of a language, one shoud use forms that have always been deemed correct and not use incorrect forms that have become the norm. Why 'dumb down' our language?

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    This ‘answer’ shows a staggering lack of knowledge of how language actually works. There is no such thing as “forms that have always been deemed correct”.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Dec 25, 2013 at 10:51

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