What Material Do You Need To Clean Your Apartment

Adaptation & Habitation Vocabulary

Learning abode vocabulary is a must considering 'your home' is one of the five topics in Part i of the IELTS Speaking test that y'all could be asked about. Yous may also demand to talk almost homes or dissimilar types of accommodation in Speaking Parts 2 and iii and the topic could come up upwards in the Writing, Reading or Listening sections of the exam besides.

And then, let's brand sure you lot're well prepared.

Here are a few things you could be asked near:

What your habitation is like

Your favourite room or attribute of your home

What you'd like to change

Your platonic home

Someone else'south abode you've visited

The advantages/disadvantages of renting/buying

Environmentally friendly homes

Homes of the future

This page includes over 100 common words and phrases related to adaptation and homes. I've added an explanation for each one and a sample sentence to prove it in context. This volition assistance you to larn how to utilise it correctly.

Don't try to acquire them all. Expect at my suggestions below as to the best mode to utilise this comprehensive list of home vocabulary.

Likewise check out my Buildings & Architecure Vocabulary page for related words.

Relaxing at home.

To ensure that you're ready to answer any accommodation or home-related questions, I've included four things here:

IELTS-manner questions on the topic of homes

Sample answers

A list of common dwelling vocabulary with definitions & sample sentences

Links to online reading and listening resources

You'll find PDF downloads of both the questions and sample answers and the accommodation and habitation vocabulary list at the bottom of the respective sections.

The questions relate to the Speaking test because this role of the test offers the broadest range of possible questions on this topic. They give the best opportunity for me to demonstrate the vocabulary and for y'all to practise using it.

I've included IELTS-style questions and answers for all iii parts of the Speaking test. I've highlighted keywords and phrases inbold.

You'll find these words and phrases, and many others, in the vocabulary listing beneath. The listing as well includes explanations and sample sentences and at that place's an audio to listen to the pronunciation.

The home vocabulary list contains words and phrases relevant to all parts of the IELTS exam.

Finally, at the bottom of the folio, I've added links to topical manufactures, brusque videos and podcasts that volition help you to amend both your adaptation and home vocabulary and your reading and listening skills.

IELTS-Way Speaking Test Questions and Answers

Common accommodation and abode vocabulary is highlighted in bold .

Part 1

1) What kind of property do y'all live in?

My habitation is a semi-detached bungalow .

2) How long accept you lived at that place?

I moved in on my 21st birthday and I'm nearly 25 now so I've been in that location for almost four years.

3) Do you lot plan to live there for a long time?

Buying and selling a house is very stressful and I said that I would never do it again after last time. Besides, I beloved my home so think I volition stay in that location forever.

4) Is there anything about your house yous would like to change?

Not really. I accept thought virtually doing a loft conversion to give me another sleeping accommodation for when friends come up to stay just that's all.

v) What's the divergence between where you live now and your last home?

I used to alive in an apartment by the sea. Information technology had a wonderful view just no garden. At present I have a big lawn surrounded by a loftier hedge, and a patio where I similar to sit in the dominicus. I'm very happy to accept a garden over again.

Semi-detached houses.

Office ii

Describe a home you take visited that y'all really liked.

Yous should say:

where it was
whose business firm or apartment it was
what it was similar

and explicate why yous liked it.

A few years ago I saw a photograph in the window of an manor agent of a fabulous property in a village quite near to where I alive. Information technology was my idea of a dream home and so I only had to take a look around it. I felt a scrap bad virtually doing this every bit I knew I couldn't afford the business firm. I've never done anything like it before, or since.

The house itself was quite modern. Information technology had iii bedrooms, separate kitchen and dining rooms and a spacious lounge. It was mostly carpeted and the large windows let in plenty of natural light. There was also a utility room and a double garage. Information technology was really a adequately ordinary firm but would have made a lovely home and it certainly felt cosy.

All the windows had wonderful views over the surrounding countryside which is something I would make a priority if I was house-hunting for real. The owners said that they ofttimes saw deer out on the hillsides.

All this was very squeamish, only I haven't told you about the best part of the holding however, the garden. That'south what had attracted me in the photo. It was amazing and exactly what I would dearest to own. For a offset, it was huge. At that place was a large area of lawn, several pretty bloom beds and a terrace sheltered by a contend. Fifty-fifty better than that was the stream running through the garden into a big pond with ducks on it. I wish I had that in my garden. You crossed the stream via a picayune wooden bridge that led to a small field that was too part of the property. It was perfect.

The location of the house was too ideal. Information technology was downwardly a small lane on the outskirts of the village. I know the village well and it's a close-knit community, something else that would be of import to me if I was thinking of moving house. While the area is beautiful countryside, the embankment is only fifteen minutes away so information technology has the best of both worlds.

I'yard glad I visited the property. 1 day I'll purchase a home similar it just for now, I'll merely continue dreaming.

Many people's thought of a dream home is a modern house by the ocean.

Part three

1) What are the advantages of living in a house compared to an apartment?

I'd say that the biggest reward is that you don't accept people living in a higher place and beneath you as yous do in a flat. Noisy neighbours tin be a real problem if you alive in an apartment block.

Secondly, most apartments don't have a garden, although some do have a communal outdoor that all the residents share. That was what I missed well-nigh when I lived in a cake of flats. It was the main reason I decided to motion to a house.

Finally, a house feels more similar a home of your own, even if you rent information technology, every bit you aren't sharing any part of the building with other people.

two) Do you think that everyone would like to live in a larger domicile?

Certainly not. In my opinion, it'due south mainly people with young families who want a more spacious home. Equally their family grows, they similar to take a separate chamber for each child and more than one bathroom. Because it's so expensive to buy and sell a belongings, many people add an extension rather than buying a larger business firm.

Once the children have left home, many parents downsize as they no longer demand so many rooms. They ofttimes employ the coin they make from buying a smaller property to assistance their children get a mortgage and buy a home of their own.

Likewise, many retired people move from a two-storey house to a bungalow so they don't have any stairs to climb as they go older. Mod bungalows are cosy and cheap to heat so in that location'due south a saving on utility bills every bit well. This is important when you lot're living on a alimony.

In determination, although many of usa would similar a nicer home, I don't call back size is the most important thing for a lot of people.

3) What do you lot call back living spaces will be like in the futurity?

That'southward non something I've always thought about but I would gauge that more than people will alive in high-rises because some places in the globe are running out of space for building new houses.

I saw a programme on Tv set recently where someone had designed a small apartment where the furniture folded away so you could quickly change the same infinite from a living room to a dining room and so into a sleeping room. The kitchen appliances were subconscious in cupboards so were close away until you lot needed to use them. It was amazing and I think this sort of accommodation could become mutual in the future.

All the same, in places with more country available I don't call back there will be much change in the near future. Perchance in fifty years, people will exist living in space but I can't imagine what their accommodation would look like.

Cities like Hong Kong take many high-rise apartments as there is very little space to build adaptation.

Click this link to become a PDF download of these practise questions & sample answers.

Download PDF Now

Accommodation & Habitation Vocabulary

* Of import

Donon try and acquire this listing of adaptation and home vocabulary.

Identify the vocabulary you detect useful for answering practise questions about this topic.

Tape these in your vocabulary notebook and practise using them regularly.

I recommend that you create your own answers to the Speaking questions on this page. You will find many other IELTS-way practise questions by searching online.

For help on how to learn vocabulary, what to larn and how to tape it, visit these pages:

How to Learn Vocabulary for IELTS

Summit 6 Types of IELTS Vocabulary & Topic Discussion Lists

Accommodation & Domicile Vocabulary – Common Words & Phrases

Home Vocabulary Ready one: Key definitions

business firm – building where people (normally i family) live

- Our house is well-nigh the park.

home – place where someone lives, where they feel they vest

- It's prissy to come home in the evening and spend fourth dimension with my family.

accommodation – a building or gear up of rooms where someone lives or stays

- Oti started looking for adaptation as presently equally her university identify was confirmed.

a belongings – building and the country it is built on

- Our nowadays house is too small now that we have children so nosotros are looking for a new property.

single storey – with only a ground floor level

- My elderly parents are ownership a single storey firm as they find it difficult to climb the stairs.

ii-storey – with two floors levels

- Sanjay found a lovely two-storey holding to rent shut to his workplace.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Domicile Vocabulary Set 2: Types of dwelling house

detached firm – a firm that is not continued to whatever other houses

- Nosotros'd dear to purchase ane of the new detached houses being built virtually the lake but they're out of our price range.

semi-detached firm – a house that is joined to another firm on one side

- Meena lived in a semi-detached house and could sometimes hear her neighbours arguing through the bordering wall.

terraced firm (Britain) / row house (US) – a firm in a row of like houses joined together on both sides

- Having a property either side of u.s. means that our terraced house stays warm in winter.

townhouse – a house built in a row but larger in size than a terraced house, oft having more than two storeys

- Townhouses are popular with families every bit they often take extra bedrooms in the cranium.

bungalow – a house with but ane storey; built all on 1 level

- Many people move to a bungalow when they retire and then they don't have to climb the stair as they get older.

cottage – a small firm, usually located in the countryside

- For lots of people, a cottage in the countryside is their idea of a dream home.

flat / apartment – a set of rooms for living in that are part of a larger building and are normally all on i floor

- It was a big day when their son left domicile and moved into his own flat.

fully-furnished apartment / apartment – i that you lot rent with article of furniture already in it

- The immature couple didn't have much coin so looked for a fully-furnished apartment to rent when they got married.

studio flat / apartment – a small flat that has ane main room for living, eating and sleeping in

- Hilda had the choice of three studio flats in the converted property and chose the one with pinkish walls.

Habitation Vocabulary Pronunciation

bedsit – a rented room that has a bed, table, chairs, and somewhere to melt in it only a shared bathroom

- Thebedsit is small-scale simply has everything I need to create a lilliputian habitation for myself.

condominium (condo ) – a edifice or circuitous of buildings containing a number of individually owned apartments or houses

- Manuel decided that if he got the big promotion, he would buy a condo down by the river.

apartment block / loftier-ascent –an flat building with at least 10 floors

- There is little space for housing in my metropolis and about people live in aloftier-rise.

block of flats / tower cake – a tall building with flats on many levels

- They are clearing some of the old terraced houses in our town and replacing them withblocks of flats.

penthouse – an expensive flat at the acme of a tall building in a fashionable area of a urban center

mansion – a large, impressive business firm

- If we were rich, I would purchase apenthouse in London overlooking the River Thames only my husband would prefer amansion on the coast.

villa – a large, often luxurious business firm in the country or almost the sea, particularly in southern Europe, and often rented out for holidays

- Nosotros stayed in a fabulousvilla when nosotros visited Hellenic republic. Information technology even had its ain swimming puddle.

pupil digs – pupil adaptation, often in a shared house

- I was humble almost moving intostudent digs but I'm enjoying it and get on well with my housemates.

hall of residence – a college or university building where students alive in flats

- Shishka lived in ahall of residence for her commencement yr at university and then rented a house with some friends.

Habitation Vocabulary Pronunciation

Home Vocabulary Set 3: Location

residential surface area – area in which most of the buildings are houses

- Our town is growing rapidly with several new residential areas currently being developed.

suburb – a residential expanse on the edge of towns or cities

- Almost all my colleagues at work alive in the suburbs and commute by train each day.

on the outskirts – the areas that grade the outer edge of a town, city or village, that are furthest away from the centre

- It's great living on the outskirts. It's easy to get into the city merely we are also shut to the countryside.

downtown – nigh the centre of a town or city, particularly the business concern or shopping areas

- I'm looking for a apartment downtown so I don't take to commute far to work.

housing estate – a big group of houses built at the same time and in the same style

- In the UK, well-nigh new homes are built on housing estates.

within walking distance – not very far; close enough to achieve past walking

- We chose to live here considering it's inside walking distance of the school.

close-knit community – a neighbourhood where people are helpful and supportive

- This is a shut-knit community and there's always someone to turn to if you demand help.

to alive on campus – to live on the academy or college grounds

- I like living on campus equally I don't have far to become to lectures or the student'southward union bar.

Habitation Vocabulary Pronunciation

Home Vocabulary Fix 4: Rooms

sleeping room – room used for sleeping in

- I've painted my bedroom yellow as it makes me feel cheerful when I wake up.

living room / lounge / sitting room – room used for relaxing

- In the evenings I chill out in the living room with a book or watch a bit of TV.

bathroom – room with a bathroom and/or shower and often a toilet

- With five people in my family, we have to queue for the bathroom in the morning.

kitchen – room where food is prepared and cooked, and sometimes eaten

- The kitchen is my favourite room in the house because I beloved cooking.

dining room – room in which meals are eaten

- I ordinarily eat my breakfast in the kitchen merely we always take family meals in the dining room.

study – a room for doing paperwork and studying in

- Kamal spent all day in the study working on his essay.

hall / hallway – open area within the chief archway which leads to other rooms and usually the stairs

- Having a big hallway is so useful if yous have a baby as at that place's plenty of space to shop the buggy.

landing – area at the top of the stairs

- I'm always telling the kids off for leaving their toys on the landing in case someone trips over them and falls downwards the stairs.

utility room – room used for storage and equipment such every bit the washing motorcar, freezer, etc.

- It's a rule in our house that all muddied boots are left in the utility room.

basement / cellar – room below ground level used for storage and sometimes for accommodation

- The children are so excited that our new firm has a basement as we've promised to turn it into a playroom for them.

porch – a covered shelter protecting the front entrance of a building

- I'm and so grateful for the porch on a wet day when I have to stop and wipe the dog'due south feet earlier going indoors.

solarium – a room with a drinking glass roof and walls, attached to a house at ane side

- Information technology was Klaus and Meena's dream to build a solarium on the side of their house as somewhere to relax in the lord's day.

attic / loft – space in the roof used for storage and oft converted into accommodation

- Margit regretted putting so much junk upwardly in the attic at present that she had to clear it out ready for the builders to start piece of work on the loft conversion.

pantry / larder – modest, cold room used for storing food

- We had a proper larder when I was immature but present, nigh people continue food in the fridge, freezer or a cupboard.

balcony – a platform enclosed by a wall or bars on the exterior of a edifice, with admission from an upper-flooring window or door

- My dream dwelling house would have a balcony overlooking the sea.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Home Vocabulary Set v: Owning and renting

to rent – to pay money to the owner of a property to exist allowed to live in that location

- One mean solar day I hope to own my ain domicile but for now, I tin only afford to rent.

to rent out / let out – to allow someone to alive in your holding for a fee

- I inherited my mum's bungalow when she died and I've decided to hire it out.

rented accommodation – a property for which a person pays a fixed amount to live in information technology to the person who owns information technology

- Being a university town, Exeter has lots of rented accommodation for the students.

landlord / landlady – the possessor of a building or room that is rented out to others

- I have an excellent landlord who always fixes things quickly when something needs repairing.

tenant – someone who rents a flat or house from the person who owns it

- The people renting Adil'southward flat gave find last calendar week so he's looking for new tenants.

to requite observe – to inform someone that you volition be leaving or that they are required to get out

- We gave the landlord the required 30-day's notice that we would be moving out of the flat.

to put down a deposit – to make an initial payment as function of a rental agreement or to secure a purchase

- The landlord said that once we'd put down the deposit of £200, the flat was ours.

lease – the contract a tenant signs when renting a property

- Nosotros gave him the £200 deposit immediately and agreed that we'd visit the office subsequently to sign the lease.

short-term rental / lease – a rental agreement that lasts for a brusque fourth dimension, usually 3 - half-dozen months

- The flat was but available on a short-term lease as the landlord wanted to sell information technology.

evict – to force tenants to go out a property if they neglect to pay the rent or they behave unacceptably

- The tenants in the flat in a higher place us used to play loud music all night long but thankfully the landlady evicted them.

fully-furnished – a rented belongings with all furniture included

- As a student, I didn't have whatever coin to buy article of furniture so always rented fully-furnished accommodation.

Dwelling Vocabulary Pronunciation

estate agent (Great britain) / real estate agent (United states of america) – someone whose job it is to help people purchase and sell property. Some deal with rentals as well.

- Tuyen told themanor amanuensis what sort of property she was looking for and he gave her the details of ten houses she might be interested in looking at.

to get on the property ladder – to buy a low priced property with the aim of ownership another bigger or more expensive one later in life

- They were fed up with paying loftier rents and longed to go on theproperty ladder and invest in a home of their ain.

mortgage – a big loan given to buys a house or flat

- Julio was delighted when hismortgage application was accepted and he could become ahead with his house purchase.

to accept out a mortgage – to borrow money from the bank in order to buy a firm

-Taking out a mortgage is a big delivery and most homeowners spend all their working life paying it off.

beginning-time buyer – someone buying a property for the first fourth dimension

- The developer converted the erstwhile house into four apartments that would be affordable tofirst-time buyers.

repossess – to take dorsum possession of something, particularly a property when mortgage payments have non been made

- Luther lost his job and couldn't pay his mortgage and so the banking concernrepossessed information technology.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Home Vocabulary Set 6: Within a home

(all the) mod cons – appliances in the home that get in like shooting fish in a barrel to do jobs like washing, cooking, cleaning, etc.

- The furnished apartment I'chiliad interested in renting has all the modernistic cons, including a dishwasher and tumble drier which many rentals don't have.

appliances – a device, machine or slice of equipment, particularly an electrical ane, that does a specific job in the home, such every bit a cooker or washing machine

- It must take been such difficult work for my grandmother running a home without all the time-saving appliances nosotros have today.

fitted kitchen – a kitchen with the cupboards and units designed to fit the space exactly and and then fixed in place

- My new fitted kitchen has congenital-in appliances which make so much better use of the space.

built-in wardrobe – a wardrobe that is office of a room and stock-still to the wall

- I didn't need to buy much bedroom furniture for my first flat equally it had built-in wardrobes.

carpeted – the floors accept carpet on them

- Some people like blank floorboards in their habitation only I prefer the rooms to be carpeted.

article of furniture – items in a home that make information technology comfy and functional to live in such every bit chairs, tables, beds, etc.

- Wolfgang and Angelika went to town to choose some furniture for their new extension.

utilities – gas, electricity, water

- On tiptop of the rental fee, they had to pay for the utilities too.

spacious – having a lot of space inside

- Sally loved her friend'southward new home, especially the spacious kitchen.

cosy – giving a feeling of warmth, comfort and relaxation

- Old cottages accept really thick walls which makes them absurd in summer just cosy in winter.

natural light – light from the sun

- I hate houses that are dark inside and like my home to be total of natural light.

elevator (US) / elevator (UK) – a box-like compartment housed in a shaft for raising and lowering people or things to unlike levels in a building

-Vadim oft walked up the stairs to his 10th-floor apartment but took the lift if he was carrying shopping.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Home Vocabulary Set vii: Outside a home

garden – surface area of grass or other vegetation beside a house and belonging to the property

- I would hate to alive in a firm without a garden as I dearest to abound my ain vegetables.

lawn – an expanse of grass that is cut short, especially in someone's garden

- Our garden is mostly backyard with some blossom borders and a vegetable patch.

backyard – a small space surrounded past walls at the back of a business firm, ordinarily with a hard surface (US – an enclosed area covered with grass)

- The kids are out playing in the backyard.

terrace / patio – paved area close to the house for relaxing, eating, etc

- In the summer nosotros enjoy relaxing on the patio and often set upward the barbeque there.

hedge – a line of bushes or pocket-size trees growing close together effectually a garden or field

The property had a high hedge which gave information technology good privacy from the neighbours.

fence – a flat upright structure made of woods or wire that surrounds a garden or other area of land

- We had to put upwardly a new fence at the side of the house equally the old one blew down in a gale.

shed – small wooden building in a garden usually used for storing garden tools

- I don't like going into the shed to get tools out equally there are large spiders in in that location.

garage – building intended for storing a car, usually attached to the side of a house

- Nearly people in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland use their garage for storage and don't have room for the motorcar.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Abode Vocabulary Set 8: Improving a property

to convert – to modify the form of something

- Our plan is to convert the garage into a study.

loft conversion – to plough the loft/attic into living accommodation

- Doing a loft conversion volition hateful that each of the children will be able to have a bedroom of their own.

to add together an extension – to build an actress room onto a house

- Many people add an extension as their family unit grows rather than buying a larger firm.

to redecorate – to paint one or more rooms again or put new wallpaper on the walls

- The colour scheme in their new firm was irksome and sometime-fashioned so they redecorated before they moved in.

to do up a property – to repair and update an old property

- Jai couldn't afford the smart new houses he looked at so he decided to purchase an old property and do it up.

to renovate – to restore to a proficient land of repair

- The property has been empty for several years but we're planning to renovate it and plough it dorsum into a nice domicile.

to paper the walls – to put upwardly wallpaper

- My friend is a decorator and is going to assist me paper the walls in my new apartment.

to tile the bathroom – to cover a wall with tiles to make it h2o resistant

- We've nearly finished the new extension and merely need to tile the bathroom.

a lick of paint – a small-scale corporeality of paint; one layer of paint

- There was very picayune that needed doing earlier we move into the firm merely we gave the walls a lick of paint to brighten them up.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Abode Vocabulary Set up 9: Other vocabulary

dream home – a home you regard every bit perfect

- My dream abode would exist a cottage past the body of water.

modern – based on upward to date styles

- About mod houses are very similar to look at and take minor rooms and not much storage space.

house-hunting – looking for a property to live in

- We've been firm-hunting for three months but tin can't discover anything that actually suits us.

house-warming party – a party to gloat moving into a new home

- I'm going to a colleague's house-warming party on Sat and can't wait to await around her new abode.

to have a identify of your own – to take your own dwelling house and not have to share information technology with anyone else

- I love living at home with my family just I'm 21 now and have a good job so I feel it'due south fourth dimension to find a identify of my own.

to movement in – to begin to live in a property

- Niko was impressed with the recently renovated hall of residence and couldn't await to move in.

to move out – to cease living in a particular place

- Veronica broke upwardly with her fellow and moved out of their flat.

downsize – to reduce in size; to buy a smaller house

- Many parents downsize when their children have left home as they don't need such a large house.

to feel homesick – to feel unhappy because yous are abroad from home and are missing your family, friends, and dwelling house very much

- For the first few months at university, Dalia felt very homesick but she began to feel better once she started to make new friends.

there'south no identify like home – an expression that ways your abode is a special place

- I do enjoy travelling the earth and visiting amazing places simply there's no place like home.

next door – the holding next to yours

- A new family has simply moved into the firm side by side door.

a view – what yous tin can see from a particular identify

- The thing I remember most almost my grandmother's house was the lovely view of the mountains.

Home Vocabulary Pronunciation

Click this link to get a PDF download of this list of home vocabulary.

Download PDF At present

Ways to Improve Your Home Vocabulary

One of the best means to ameliorate your home vocabulary is through reading. Watching topic related YouTube videos and listening to podcasts is also hugely beneficial.

Here are some online resource I recommend.

Accommodation & Domicile Manufactures

Our Holding

The Guardian - Holding

Rightmove - Renting & other articles

One of the best reading resources is property listings. Google 'property for sale' and read property listings on the websites that come. They'll incorporate much of the homes vocabulary nosotros've been studying.

TED Talks

I dear TED Talks. They are short videos with a powerful message and are by and large very interesting. They're ideal for improving your vocabulary and give valuable listening skills practise.

Search TED Talks - Homes to help y'all improve your abode vocabulary.