English vocabulary - Martin Hunt 2016

13 House and household (2)

In this unit you will learn

✵ words for furniture and furnishings (sofa, carpet...)

✵ how to use prepositions to describe place (next to, near...)

✵ how to describe what’s in a room (Have you got a TV? The bed is next to the window...)

Basics

Note: Before doing this unit, make sure you know the vocabulary from House and household (1).

Do you know these words? Check in a dictionary and write the word in your language.

Test your basics

Cover the words on page 160 so you can’t see them. Then write the English words in the spaces below.

Extension

More furniture and furnishings

✵ Furniture is large items in the house, for example a chair or a bed; furnishings are small items, for example a lamp.

In the living room

✵ People often watch a television (TV) here or a [video/VCR], there is also often a hi-fi to listen to.

✵ There might be a fire to make the room warm in winter.

✵ For decoration, there could be pictures up on the wall, or perhaps a plant or flowers - we normally keep flowers in a vase.

In the kitchen

✵ A fridge keeps food (like milk or butter) cold; a freezer is colder and lets you keep food for a long time.

✵ You cook with a [cooker/stove] and use a washing machine to wash your clothes.

✵ You eat off plates or out of bowls using a knife, fork, and spoon.

✵ We drink hot drinks from a cup and cold drinks from a glass.

✵ You can wash plates etc. by hand in the sink, or you can use a machine called a dishwasher.

In the bathroom

✵ Some people like a bath, but others prefer a shower.

✵ You wash your hands in a [basin/sink] and dry them on a towel.

✵ Many bathrooms also have a toilet.

In the bedroom

✵ There is usually a mirror so you can see how you look.

✵ On the bed we have sheets, pillows for our head, and a blanket or perhaps a quilt to keep warm.

✵ Some people also have a small piece of furniture called a bedside cabinet or table next to the bed where they keep things like books etc.

Adjectives and prepositions

✵ If a bed or a chair is comfortable, then it is nice to lie on or sit in; the opposite is uncomfortable.

✵ If something is heavy, you need to be strong to pick it up; the opposite is light.

Prepositions

Look at the pictures to see how we use these prepositions:

Verbs and questions

✵ To describe a room we often use there is/are... or it [has got/has...], for example:

There’s a chair next to the table.

There are some plates in the dishwasher.

Our living room [has got/has] a big sofa.

We have some plants in the kitchen.

Questions

✵ Is there a... or Are there any... in your... (room)?

✵ To ask what is in a particular room, we can ask What’s in your...?

✵ To ask the location of a room or a piece of furniture, we can use Where’s your...?

✵ What’s your... like? asks for information about a room in general.

Examples:

Have you got a dishwasher?  Yes, we have./No, we haven’t.

Is there a TV in your bedroom? Yes, there is./No, there isn’t.

Are there any plants in your house? Yes, there are./No, there aren’t.

What’s in your bathroom?  A toilet, a [basin/sink] and a shower.

Where’s your washing machine? In the kitchen, next to the dishwasher.

What’s your living room like?  It’s quite small. It[’s got/has] a sofa and two armchairs and a small table with a TV on it.

Practice

Exercise 1 In the square on the next page there are twelve words, three from each of the rooms in the box below. Find the words then write them under the correct room.

Exercise 2 Match the first half of the following sentences with its end. One ending is not used.

Exercise 3 Put the questions in the correct word order, then match them to the answers. Be careful; one question is not used.

Now check your answers.

► Exercise 4 (Recordings 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5) Pronunciation practice. Listen and repeat the words on the recording. Use the transcript at the back of the book to help you if necessary.

Reading

Before you start, check you know these words:

singer

concert

recording

chat

news

untidy

dirty

clean

Note: Soap operas are a type of television [programme/ program]. They are usually about families.

You are going to read a magazine article about celebrities and their homes.

Reading 1 Read the article - which room is Simon talking about?

My room for life

Simon Saintly, singer

People never believe me when I say that this is my [favourite/ favorite] room, but it truly is. It’s a really warm room and I can just spend hours in here. It’s a great place to relax after all the stress of a concert or making a new recording.

I often have friends in here too - everyone can sit round the large table and chat about their day. I really like the chairs - I bought them from a market. They’re very comfortable although they don’t look it. I spend so much time in here, I’m afraid I also have an old TV in the corner - I pretend to watch the news but really it’s for the soap operas - and a modern hi-fi, which I play a lot of music on but never my music. I can’t listen to my music.

I’m quite untidy too, as you can see. You’ll always find a dirty towel or something. I really should get a cleaner. But the [cooker/stove] is always clean, I’m very careful about that, although the sink is always full. I’m like everyone, I hate doing the dishes. I should get a dishwasher but I never have the time to go shopping! Even my freezer is nearly empty, so I’ll have to eat out tonight!

Reading 2 Now read the article again and find the noun that goes with the adjectives below. Be careful, one adjective is not used!

comfortable chairs

empty ...

old ...

clean ...

full ...

small ...

dirty ...

large ...

warm ...

modern ...

► Listening

Before you start, check you know this word:

socket (for electricity)

Listen to Jenny and Pete as they try to arrange their bedroom.

Listening 1 (Recording 13.6) Put a ✓ next to any items of furniture that Pete or Jenny say.

Listening 2 Listen to the recording again and complete the diagram of Jenny and Pete’s bedroom below with the correct furniture.

Now check your answers.

Recap

Here are the words we learned in this unit. Do you know them all? Write down the translations if necessary.

Furniture and furnishings

In the living room

table  chair  sofa

armchair  carpet [curtains/drapes]

light   lamp  TV

[video/VCR] hi-fi  fire

picture  plant  vase

In the kitchen

cupboard sink   fridge

freezer  [cooker/stove] washing machine

dishwasher plate   bowl

cup   glass   knife

fork   spoon

In the bathroom

bath  shower  [basin/sink]

towel  toilet

In the bedroom

[wardrobe/closet] chest of drawers bedside cabinet (table) bed mirror sheet

pillow   blanket   quilt

Adjectives and prepositions

(un)comfortable   heavy  light

next to     between (on the) left/right

behind     in front of under

on (top of)    opposite near

Verbs and questions

There is/There are... (Is there/Are there...?)

What’s in your...?

Where’s your...?

What’s your... like?

What to do next

✵ Try to describe a room in your house in detail.

✵ Ask someone else to describe a room in their house in English.

✵ Look through books or magazines to find descriptions of rooms; how much do you understand?

Why not try these units next?

✵ Food (1) and (2) • Shopping

Answer key for this unit

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

1 The [video/VCR] is under the TV.

2 The plates are in the kitchen cupboard.

3 The bed is between the wardrobe and the window.

4 The towel is next to the [basin/sink].

5 The [curtain/drape] is in front of the window.

6 The quilt is on the bed.

7 The freezer is on the left of the fridge.

8 The picture is on the wall.

9 There’s a plant on the table. (the vase is not used.)

Exercise 3

1 Where’s the hi-fi?

2 Have you got a television?

3 What’s in this cupboard?

4 Is there a table in your living room?

5 What’s your living room like?

c It’s on the chest of drawers, behind the sofa.

b Yes, we have. And we’ve got a [video/VCR] too.

d Oh, just some plates, bowls, knives, forks, and spoons.

No answer for this question.

a It’s quite big. We’ve got two armchairs and a great big comfortable sofa to sit on.

Reading

Reading 1 Kitchen

Reading 2

Listening

Listening 1

Listening 2