House and home — Unit 26, Beginner English
Types of home, the rooms inside, the furniture in each one, and how to describe where you live — the vocabulary for a dream home.
Reading: A New Home for the Aliyevs
The Aliyev family moves into a new house on Friday. It is not very big, but it is bright and comfortable. Downstairs there is a **living room**, a **kitchen** and a small bathroom. Upstairs there are three bedrooms.
On Saturday morning, everyone helps. Mr Aliyev carries boxes into the living room. Mrs Aliyev puts plates and cups in the kitchen cupboards. Their son Murad takes his books upstairs to his bedroom. His room is **next to** his parents' room, and his sister's room is opposite it.
Outside, there is a little **garden** behind the house. It has two apple trees and a wooden table. The family eats lunch there because the weather is sunny. Later, Murad puts a chair near the window in his room. From the chair, he can see the garden. "This feels like home already," he says.
In the evening, the family puts a lamp in the living room and pictures on the wall. They still have many boxes, but they do not worry. On Sunday, their grandparents visit and bring a plant for the kitchen window. Everyone drinks tea in the garden before the grandparents go home.
They choose curtains for the bedrooms and a blue mat for the front door. Murad writes his new address in his school diary. On Monday, he walks to school from the house for the first time and arrives early.
They choose curtains for the bedrooms and a blue mat for the front door. Murad writes his new address in his school diary. On Monday, he walks to school from the house for the first time and arrives early.
Vocabulary from this unit
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a flat | one home inside a bigger building | We live in a flat on the fourth floor. |
| a house | a whole building for one family | They have a small house outside the city. |
| a block of flats | the whole building | There are twelve flats in our block. |
| a cottage | a small old house in the countryside | My grandparents have a cottage in the village. |
| a villa | a big comfortable house, often with a garden | The villa has a swimming pool. |
| a studio | a flat with one room only | A studio is cheap for one person. |
| Room | What is in it |
|---|---|
| living room | a sofa · an armchair · a coffee table · a carpet · curtains · a bookshelf |
| kitchen | a cooker · a fridge · a sink · a cupboard · a kettle · a washing machine |
| bedroom | a bed · a wardrobe · a pillow · a blanket · a mirror · a lamp |
| bathroom | a shower · a bath · a toilet · a towel · a washbasin |
| dining room | a table · chairs |
This is the free sample from this unit. The full unit adds 1 more reading passage, comprehension questions with an answer key, the listening exercises, flashcards for the vocabulary above, and a speaking task — with your progress tracked so the next unit unlocks when you are ready for it.
Grammar in this unit: Prepositions of place — in, on, at, under, next to
Common questions
What level is this unit?
Beginner — roughly CEFR A0–A1. If you are not sure of your level, the course places you with a short diagnostic before you start rather than making you guess.
Do I need to pay to use this?
The reading passage and vocabulary on this page are free to read. The rest of the unit — the remaining passages, the exercises, the listening, the answer key and the progress tracking — is part of the paid General English course.
Is this British or American English?
British English spelling and vocabulary, which is what most learners in Azerbaijan are taught and what IELTS expects, though both are accepted in the exam.