House & Home
House & Home — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, easy-to-confuse words and four interactive exercises.
📌 In this lesson
🎯 Lesson goal
The rooms, furniture and objects in a home 🏠, plus the prepositions of place you need to describe them: on the wall, in the corner, under the bed. You also learn the difference between house (the building) and home (the place where you live). 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
Sara’s new flat · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
Sara has just found a flat on the ground floor. The rent is not cheap, so she will share a flat with a friend from university.
The living room has an old brown sofa and long green curtains. There isn't much furniture yet: only a table, two chairs and one shelf for her books. Her bedroom is small, but the wardrobe is enormous, and there is a drawer under the bed for her shoes.
The best part is the balcony, with a view over a little garden. "It isn't big," she says, "but it's cosy." She and her friend move in on Saturday.
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words travel in pairs, not alone: learn the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| do the housework | to clean and tidy your home | We do the housework on Saturdays. |
| make the bed | to make the bed neat after sleeping | Make your bed before you leave. |
| a spare room | one more room than you need | They have a spare room for guests. |
| feel at home | to feel comfortable and relaxed | Come in and feel at home. |
| move house | to take your things to a new home | We're moving house in April. |
| pay the rent | to give money for your home | I pay the rent at the start of the month. |
⚠️ Easy-to-confuse words
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Easy to mix up with ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| furniture | tables, chairs, beds… (always singular) | We never say “a furniture” or “furnitures” → a piece of furniture |
| comfortable | pleasant and relaxing | Not only for rooms: you can use it for shoes and situations too |
| appartment/flat | a home in a building | In the UK we say flat; apartment is American |
| library | a place where you borrow books | It is not a shop that sells books: that is a bookshop |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Make yourself at home. | informal and warm | when a guest comes into your home |
| Have a seat. | neutral | at home, in an office, at the doctor’s |
| Do come in. | polite British style | with guests you do not know well |
| This is my place. | very informal | between friends, to talk about where you live |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| I have many furnitures. | I have a lot of furniture. |
| I live in a house of two rooms. | I live in a two-room flat. |
| She is in the first floor. | She is on the first floor. |
| I go in my bedroom. | I go to my bedroom. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to practise the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The clue under each sentence will help you.
- We live in a small .💡 Our home is small and it is in a big building.
- The kitchen is on the .💡 The kitchen is on the lowest floor, at street level.
- We watch TV in the .💡 We watch TV in the room where we relax.
- My is very small.💡 The room where I sleep is very small.
- The is my favourite room.💡 The room where we cook is my favourite room.
- There's only one for four people.💡 There is only one room with a shower for four people.
- Be careful on the .💡 Be careful on the steps between floors.
- We bought new last week.💡 We bought new tables, beds and chairs last week.
- The cat sleeps on the .💡 The cat sleeps on the long soft seat.
- My clothes don't fit in the .💡 My clothes do not fit in the tall cupboard.