• What are horizontal and vertical?
• Examples of horizontal things
• Examples of vertical things

We explain what horizontal and vertical are, their characteristics and examples of horizontal and vertical things.

An object, movement, or line can be horizontal or vertical.

What are horizontal and vertical?

When we talk about something horizontal or something vertical, we are referring to its orientation, that is, to the way in which something is located in space, whether we are talking about an object, a movement or a line. In general, to distinguish one meaning from the other, it is enough to attend to their respective names, as follows:

• Horizontal. Its name refers to the horizon, which is that imaginary line of flight that we see when contemplating a landscape, there at the bottom of everything. For example, if we stand by the sea, the horizon will be that imaginary line that separates the sea from the sky in the distance. Thus, all things that are horizontal are arranged from left to right or vice versa: a man who sleeps, for example, does so in a horizontal position.
• Vertical. The word vertical comes from vertex, which is the point where two lines meet, forming a angle, as do its two slopes on the top of a mountain. Therefore, what is vertical is what connects the top and the foot of a mountain, that is, what goes from top to bottom or vice versa. Therefore, vertical things are arranged in this way, just like our own spinal column (the one that connects our head, above, with our feet, below).

In short, the horizontal is what is arranged like the horizon, that is, lying down as when we sleep; while the vertical is what connects with the vertex or the top of a mountain, that is, erect like our spine in the back.

Examples of horizontal things

To remember what horizontal means we can think, in addition to the horizon, of the following things:

• The surface of a table or a piece of furniture on which we support our notebook to write, without the latter falling to the ground.
• The ground itself, as long as we are on a plain or plain and not on an inclined plane, such as at the foot of a mountain.
• The top and bottom sides of a square.
• The layout of the computer keyboard.
• The arrangement of the spine of a dog.

Examples of vertical things

Similarly, to remember what vertical means we can think of the following things:

• The surface of any wall.
• The layout of our spine.
• The right and left sides of a square.
• The way an object falls when we release it from the hand.
• The surface of the TV screen.