Virtuous English AcademyHouse & Home — A2 English Vocabulary
This A2 vocabulary list gathers 30 elementary English words about house & home — rooms, furniture and household tasks. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using house & home words in English
The A1 list gave you the rooms; this one fills them, and it is where British and American English part company most visibly. A British wardrobe is an American closet, British curtains are American drapes, and a cupboard covers ground that American English splits between cabinet and closet. The grammar to watch is the storage prepositions — English is fussy about in a drawer against on a shelf — and one persistent pair, cushion and pillow.
What to watch out for
A cushion is for sitting, a pillow is for sleeping
The soft square on your sofa is a cushion. The one your head goes on in bed is a pillow. English keeps them strictly apart, and most languages do not, so this is one of the most reliable giveaways in home vocabulary. The same care is worth taking with blanket, which goes over you in bed, and carpet, which is fitted to the whole floor — a small loose one is a rug.
In the drawer, on the shelf, in the wardrobe
Anything enclosed takes in: in the drawer, in the cupboard, in the wardrobe, in the fridge, in the oven. Anything flat and open takes on: on the shelf, on the bookshelf, on the carpet. The ceiling is the one above your head inside the room; the roof is outside on top of the building. Lights hang from the ceiling and are on the ceiling — both are heard.
The British words are the ones on this list
A wardrobe is a tall cupboard for clothes, and Americans call it a closet. A cupboard in a British kitchen is an American cabinet. Curtains are American drapes, and a British fridge is often an American refrigerator in full. None of these will stop you being understood, but if you are learning British English these are the forms to produce.
Words learners mix up
Three tables: the words you need when the home is not yours, the four adjectives and verbs for the state it is in — one of which is a real false friend — and a set worth saying out loud before you say them to anybody else.
When the home is not yours
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| rent | Both the money paid each month and the verb — and the verb works in both directions, so context decides who is paying. | We rent a flat near the station. |
| landlord | The person who owns the property and rents it out. A woman is a landlady, and both words are still current. | The landlord is fixing the boiler. |
| flat | A home on one floor inside a larger building. The British word; Americans say apartment. | They live in a two-bedroom flat. |
| neighbour | Anyone living near you, not only next door. British spelling keeps the u. | Our neighbours have a new dog. |
Rent is the one to watch, because unlike borrow and lend English uses one verb for both sides of the arrangement: we rent from the landlord and the landlord rents to us are both correct, and the preposition tells you which is happening. Let is the specifically British word for the owner’s side, which is why the signs outside empty flats say To Let.
The state the place is in
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| tidy | Everything in its place. Also a verb: tidy up before the guests arrive. | His room is always very tidy. |
| messy | The opposite — untidy, things everywhere. The noun is a mess: the kitchen is in a mess. | The flat was messy after the party. |
| cosy | Small, warm and comfortable in a way that feels good. British spelling; Americans write cozy. | The living room is small but cosy. |
| decorate | In British English, to paint or wallpaper a room. Only at Christmas does it mean putting decorations up. | We are decorating the bedroom this weekend. |
Decorate is the false friend on this page. To a British ear we decorated the flat means paint, brushes and dust sheets, and if you mean tinsel and lights you need put up the decorations. Note too that tidy and clean are not the same judgement: a tidy room can be dirty, and a clean one can have clothes all over the floor.
Four words worth saying out loud
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| garage | Where a car is kept, and also where it is repaired. British speakers say GA-rij or GA-rahj, both with the stress at the front. | The car is in the garage. |
| basement | A room or floor below ground level. A cellar is the same space used for storage rather than lived in. | The washing machine is in the basement. |
| balcony | A small platform outside an upper window. Three syllables with the stress on the first: BAL-kuh-nee. | We have breakfast on the balcony in summer. |
| chimney | The pipe that takes smoke out through the roof. Two syllables, and there is no l in it. | The chimney needs cleaning before winter. |
These four are misread far more often than they are misunderstood, because each one is spelled in a way that invites the wrong stress. American English shifts garage to the second syllable — guh-RAHJ — which is the clearest single difference in this whole topic, and it is worth choosing one and staying with it.
Collocations that sound natural
These are the phrases you will need when something in the flat has to be turned on, opened, closed or paid for — the everyday business of living somewhere rather than describing it.
rent
pay the rentthe rent is dueput the rent uprent-free
The rent is due on the day it must be paid. British tenants also talk about a deposit, the money held until you leave.
heating
put the heating onturn the heating upcentral heatingthe heating is broken
British homes have central heating, and the verb phrases are put on, turn up and turn down. The word is uncountable, so never the heatings.
tap
turn the tap ona dripping tapleave the tap runninghot and cold taps
The British tap is an American faucet, and tap water is what comes out of it as opposed to bottled.
curtain
draw the curtainsopen the curtainsa pair of curtainsnet curtains
Draw the curtains can mean either open or close them, and only context decides — at night it means close. They come in twos, so a pair of curtains.
neighbour
a next-door neighbournoisy neighboursthe neighbours upstairsgood neighbours
Next-door is hyphenated in front of the noun and two separate words after it: the people next door.
towel
a bath towela clean towelhang up the towela tea towel
A tea towel is the cloth for drying dishes, and it has nothing to do with tea — Americans call it a dish towel.
Where each word belongs
Five household words with something hidden in them: a silent letter, a short form that has replaced the long one, and a brand name that became a verb.
- cupboardSilent letterSay KUB-erd — the p is silent and the two halves have fused into one sound. It is the general British word for an enclosed storage space, in a kitchen or a bedroom alike.
- fridgeShort form has wonNobody says refrigerator in British conversation; fridge is the ordinary word and has its own spelling with a d that the long form lacks. The freezer compartment is separate, and a combined unit is a fridge-freezer.
- vacuumBrand name as a verbThe machine is a vacuum cleaner and the verb is vacuum or, very commonly in Britain, hoover — from the brand. The chore is the vacuuming or the hoovering. Note the double u in the spelling.
- landlordTwo jobsThe person you rent from, and also the man who runs a pub — which is why the landlord in a British story is often standing behind a bar. The female forms are landlady in both senses.
- blanketBeside the <em>duvet</em>A woven cover laid over a bed. Most British beds now use a duvet instead — a thick quilt in a washable cover — and blankets are the extra layer you add when it is cold. Americans call the duvet a comforter.
Sentences to try
Four frames using the storage prepositions. Say each one about something that is genuinely in your home right now.
- The towels are in the cupboard next to the door.
- My keys are in the top drawer.
- She keeps her books on the bookshelf in the hall.
- Please put an extra blanket and a pillow on the bed.
Questions about house & home vocabulary
What is the difference between a cushion and a pillow?
A pillow is what you sleep on — it belongs in a bed and supports your head at night. A cushion is what you sit on or lean against, and it belongs on a sofa, an armchair or a garden bench. British English keeps these two words strictly separate, so the pillows on the sofa sounds wrong. The related bedding words are duvet for the thick cover, blanket for a woollen one and sheet for the flat layer underneath.
Is it a wardrobe or a closet?
Wardrobe is the British word and it usually means a tall free-standing piece of furniture with a door, made for hanging clothes. Closet is the American word and normally means a small cupboard built into the wall of the room. Because British homes traditionally used furniture rather than built-in storage, the two words also describe genuinely different things, not just different dialects. Both are widely understood, but on a British English course, use wardrobe.
What is the difference between a ceiling and a roof?
The ceiling is the surface you see when you look up from inside a room. The roof is the structure on top of the whole building, which you see from outside. A tall block of flats has many ceilings and one roof. The confusion is common because many languages use one word for both. Note the fixed expressions too: rain comes through the roof, and a light hangs from the ceiling.