Home and furniture

Rooms, furniture and things in the kitchen, how to describe where you live, and the British way of numbering floors.

When you need it

You describe your home when you introduce yourself, rent a room, write to a host family, or invite someone round. The same words appear in every advert for a flat and in every exam task that starts Describe your room. English also counts rooms and floors differently from Ukrainian and Russian, which matters when you read an advert or give someone your address.

Core words

Word	Note	Example
house	a building for one family	They live in a small house.
flat	one home inside a bigger building; American apartment	I rent a flat in the centre.
room	any space with walls and a door	The flat has three rooms.
floor	a level of a building, or the surface you walk on	My flat is on the fourth floor.
stairs	always plural	The lift is broken, so take the stairs.
lift	American elevator	Is there a lift?
garden	British; American speakers usually say yard	We have a small garden.
balcony	/ˈbælkəni/, stress on the first syllable	I grow tomatoes on the balcony.

Word	Note	Example
kitchen	the room where you cook	We eat in the kitchen.
living room	also sitting room or lounge in Britain	The TV is in the living room.
bedroom	a room for sleeping	It's a two-bedroom flat.
bathroom	in American English also a polite word for the toilet	The bathroom is next to the kitchen.
toilet	British speakers say it openly; loo is informal	Where is the toilet, please?
hall	the space inside the front door	Leave your shoes in the hall.
study	a small room for work at home	My father works in his study.

Word	Note	Example
furniture	uncountable: a piece of furniture	We need some new furniture.
table, chair	sit at a table, on a chair	We sat at the table.
sofa, armchair	sit on a sofa, in an armchair	He is asleep on the sofa.
bed	a single bed, a double bed	The bed is by the window.
wardrobe	a tall cupboard for clothes; American closet	My coats are in the wardrobe.
cupboard	/ˈkʌbəd/, the p is silent	The cups are in the cupboard.
shelf, desk	plural shelves; a desk is a table for work	My books are on the shelf above my desk.
lamp, mirror	countable	There is a lamp next to the bed.

Word	Note	Example
fridge	short for refrigerator	Put the milk in the fridge.
cooker	British; American stove	The soup is on the cooker.
oven	/ˈʌvn/; the closed box for baking	The bread is in the oven.
washing machine	for clothes	The washing machine is in the bathroom.
sink	where you wash dishes or hands	Leave the cups in the sink.

When you describe a room, the usual pattern is there is or there are followed by a place: There is a desk under the window. There are two chairs next to the table. The small words of position, such as next to, under, between and opposite, are explained in prepositions of place. Notice also that on the wall and on the floor take on, while in the corner takes in.

Useful phrases

I live in a flat on the third floor. — The number of the floor comes with on.
There are two bedrooms and a small kitchen. — There is / there are is the normal way to describe a home.
I share a flat with two friends. — Each of you has a room.
We rent our flat. / We own our house. — You pay rent, or it belongs to you.
Come round on Saturday. — Visit my home.
Make yourself at home. — Relax, you are welcome here.
Can I use your bathroom? — A polite way to ask for the toilet in someone's home.
Turn on the light. / Turn off the light.
I'm moving house next month. — British; American speakers say I'm moving.
It's a bit small, but it's cosy. — Warm and comfortable; American spelling cozy.

Common mistakes

✗ We bought new furnitures. We bought a furniture.
✓ We bought new furniture. We bought a piece of furniture.
Furniture is uncountable in English, as Russian мебель is; Ukrainian меблі is plural, but in English the verb is singular: the furniture is new.
✗ I live on the second floor. (in Britain, meaning one level above the street)
✓ I live on the first floor.
In Britain the level at the street is the ground floor and the next one is the first floor, so Ukrainian другий поверх is the British first floor; American English counts like Ukrainian and Russian.
✗ My father works in his cabinet.
✓ My father works in his study. My father works in his office.
Ukrainian кабінет and Russian кабинет are false friends: an English cabinet is a cupboard with doors or drawers, or the group of senior ministers in a government.
✗ The soup is on the plate. (meaning: cooking)
✓ The soup is on the cooker. The soup is on the stove.
Плита looks like English plate, but a plate is тарілка / тарелка, the thing you eat from.
✗ We have a three-room flat.
✓ We have a two-bedroom flat.
Ukrainian трикімнатна and Russian трёхкомнатная квартира count every room, but English adverts count only bedrooms, so a flat with a living room and two bedrooms is a two-bedroom flat.

Try it

We cook dinner in the ___.
I keep my clothes in the ___.
In Britain, the floor at street level is the ___ floor.
We need some new ___. (furniture / furnitures)
There ___ two bedrooms in our flat. (is / are)
Put the milk in the ___.

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