Frequently, when editing/reviewing SE posts, I see the following:
as you can see in the below image.
Now, to me, below image, just sounds wrong and I reverse the order, changing it to:
as you can see in the image below.
However, in my own posts, I will often write:
as the above image shows
en lieu of
as you can see in the image above
because it sounds, to me, to be a bit more in keeping with formal documentation. The phrase … image above is, obviously, correct also, and sounds fine, just not so technical.
TL;DR
- Why does above image sound ok, but below image does not?
- Am I wrong, and the only one who thinks this sounds odd?
- Why isn't the antonym of above (which is an adjective), not an adjective itself? It seems rather asymmetrical.
Update:
I hadn't realised that this had already been asked on SE ELU: Which is correct: “the below information” or “the information below”?. I should have checked, apologies
Best Answer
The below image and the above image are writing conventions used to refer to a figure in terms of its relative position in the text.
In the three-dimensional world of things, we say
P.S. I suppose above and below would be so-called "small clauses" here.