Below is the plain, everyday word for a lower position or level: "The flat below ours is empty", "temperatures below freezing". Beneath means much the same but sounds more formal and usually implies something is covered by or directly under what is above it: "the pipes beneath the floorboards". Beneath also has a sense below does not — unworthy of: "She thought the job beneath her."
The core difference
They overlap heavily, and in most sentences either is grammatical. What separates them is register and implication. Below is neutral and measures position on a scale. Beneath is literary, and carries a stronger sense of one thing lying under and covered by another.
When "below" is the right choice
Use it whenever you are talking about levels, quantities, or a place further down a document:
- Sales fell below expectations.
- It was ten below zero.
- See the table below.
- The village lies in the valley below.
- She lives two floors below me.
In all of these, beneath would sound wrong or oddly poetic. Crucially, below does not require contact — the valley is not touching the ridge.
When "beneath" earns its place
- He found the letter beneath a pile of newspapers.
- The ice cracked beneath their boots.
- Beneath the polite tone was real anger.
- The town was buried beneath the ash.
Notice how many of these involve covering or weight. That is what beneath adds, and it is also why the figurative use works so well: things hidden beneath a surface, whether literal or emotional.
Then there is the sense with no equivalent at all: beneath contempt, beneath criticism, beneath his dignity, it's beneath you to argue with them. Below cannot do this.
The test
Try under. If under fits comfortably and the two things are touching or one covers the other, beneath will also fit, and you can choose it for a more formal tone. If you are stating a level, a measurement, or pointing to something later in a text, use below — and in ordinary prose, under is often better still.
Being honest about it
There is no rule here that careful writers enforce. Beneath is not more correct than below or under; it is a stylistic register choice, and in plain, modern writing it can read as slightly overwrought. Reach for it when you want the weight, not by default. The only genuinely non-interchangeable use is the "unworthy of" sense.
A related note
Underneath sits close to beneath in meaning but is less formal, and it can stand alone without an object: Lift the mat and look underneath. Beneath almost always needs something after it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it "see below" or "see beneath"?
See below. When referring the reader to something further down a page or document, below is the fixed, conventional word. "See beneath" is not idiomatic.
Should I write "below the surface" or "beneath the surface"?
Both are used, but beneath the surface is the more common fixed phrase, especially in the figurative sense of hidden feelings or meanings. Below the surface is fine when you mean a literal depth measurement.
Can I use "under" instead of either?
Usually yes, and in everyday writing it is often the clearest option. The exceptions are fixed phrases — "below average", "see below", "beneath contempt" — where the specific word is part of the expression.