Which is correct?

[bonia]

Could you help, please. Which one is correct: a tall building/   a high building? Different books give different answers....

[Scratch]

Both are.

[Erica Blair]

But they mean different things.

High is for position, tall for vertical extent.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1172298

High is relatively how high something is in regards to the ground. That building isn't the tallest in the world, but it is the highest, it's 60000000000 feet above sea level.
http://englipedia.informe.com/forum/teaching-related-f13/dinner-vs-supper-t1620.html

[Scratch]

А без превосходной степени - a tall bldg / a high bldg - тоже есть разница?

[savageanomaly]

А без превосходной степени - a tall bldg / a high bldg - тоже есть разница?

Both are possible but "tall building" is more likely. With 'high', we more often use "highrise," which implies that the building is tall, naturally.

[bonia]

There was in the example: 'This building is higher than that one.'

[olgagal]

I think you should say "tall" or "high-rise" about a building. "A high building" would sound weird. A person, on the other hand, can get high, no matter how tall he or she is

[Erica Blair]

There was in the example: 'This building is higher than that one.'

In what example?
It means it is located higher.

[bonia]

Это предложение из Голицинского- многие примеры смущают, но заставляют искать еще варианты.Орешек знаний тверд....

[Erica Blair]

Это предложение из Голицинского- многие примеры смущают, но заставляют искать еще варианты.Орешек знаний тверд....

Да, ошибки у Голицынского есть. Но есть в этом и плюс: ошибки типичные для русскоязычных, есть повод разобрать их с учениками.

Данное предложение нельзя считать неправильным, мы же не знаем, что он имел в виду. Но скорее всего он имел в виду высоту здания.

[bonia]

Пример взят из упражнения на сравнительные степени прилагательных. Но возникли сомнения, другая хорошая книга" Right word, wrong word' , автор Александер, строго-настрог запрещает брать 'high' для описания высоты зданий , деревьев. Упс, опять путаница...

[Dédé d'Ailleurs]

авто р Александер, строго-настрог запрещает брать 'high' для описания высоты зданий , деревьев. Упс, опять путаница...

Да кто такие этот англичанишка Александер плюс горстка недоучек с этого форума против самого Голицынского?! Никакой путаницы.

[USAman]

The word "high" is about a position. The word "tall" is about a size.

If we stay in front of two buildings and somebody asks us which building is higher, what we look at to answer the question? Right, on the roof.
If the buildings stay next to each other - the bottom is on the same level for both buildings. Which roof is higher that building is higher or taller.

If the buildings are located in different places then "toll" and "high" become different. If we ask which is taller? It means we compare the size from the bottom to the top of each building.

We can also ask how high above the sea level  the top of the building is? If the taller building is located in a valley and the shorter building is located on the top of a mountain then the top of the shorter building could be located higher than the top of the taller building above the level of the sea.

As for mountains the word "tall" is never used because you can never find out where the bottom of the mountain is. People talk how high the top of the mountain is (but not how tall)?

So, sometimes "taller building" (size) is equal to "higher building" (position) sometimes it is not.

[USAman]

авто р Александер, строго-настрог запрещает брать 'high' для описания высоты зданий , деревьев. Упс, опять путаница...

Да кто такие этот англичанишка Александер плюс горстка недоучек с этого форума против самого Голицынского?! Никакой путаницы.

If Alexander means SIZE then he is right. But if the bottom of the objects is on the same level then you can use high instead of tall (the taller object is the same as the higher object).

Alexander gives you the rule that will never fail. But in some English dialects people never pay attention on using "high" instead of "tall". Here in the US people are very polite - if they understand what you mean then you speak English well.