Learn English – Difference between “balcony” and “veranda”

meaningword-choice

Sometimes I have a hard time telling the two apart. For example, the following:

enter image description here

enter image description here

It's called veranda and balcony by the author (who lives in Japan):

Unlike the old "clothes line" of my childhood, we use the veranda
(balcony) as our drying place.

Source: http://thedelacourier.blogspot.tw/2006/05/cloudy-with-high-probability-of-wet.html

But guess it can only be one option? (Or a structure can be a veranda and a balcony at the same time?) What are the main differences?

Best Answer

A veranda is an open roofed walkway/standing area attached to the side of a building.

A balcony is an elevated walkway/standing area attached to the side of a building (or attached to an interior wall).

See Google Images for veranda and balcony.

It's possible for a given structure to be both, but generally "balcony" would be used for an elevated structure.