# Rooms and things at home in English

Home vocabulary is easiest to learn by walking around the house and pointing at things. Rooms, furniture, and objects, plus a word-hunt game to play at home.

Author: Aslıgül Aşkın · Published: 2026-10-01 · Updated: 2026-10-12
Page address: https://grammardots.com/en/blog/rooms-and-household-items-in-english

Home vocabulary is easiest to learn by walking around the house and pointing at things. Choosing five objects in each room quickly builds a solid base of about fifty words.

## Rooms

living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, hall, balcony, garden. To describe your home: “There are three bedrooms in my house.”, “The kitchen is next to the living room.”

## Furniture

sofa, armchair, table, chair, bed, wardrobe, shelf, desk, carpet, curtains.

## Objects

lamp, mirror, clock, window, door, pillow, blanket, towel, television, washing machine.

## Furniture and objects room by room

Grouping words by room makes them easier to remember. The things in this table are not in the lists above.

Household things by room

| Room | English | Turkish |
| --- | --- | --- |
| kitchen | fridge, cooker, sink, cupboard, kettle | buzdolabı, ocak, evye, dolap, su ısıtıcısı |
| bathroom | bath, shower, washbasin, tap, toilet | küvet, duş, lavabo, musluk, tuvalet |
| bedroom | chest of drawers, bedside table, alarm clock | çekmeceli dolap, komodin, çalar saat |
| living room | bookcase, coffee table, cushion, rug | kitaplık, sehpa, kırlent, küçük halı |
| hall | doormat, coat rack, shoe rack | paspas, portmanto, ayakkabılık |

## Words for position

in, on, under, next to, behind, in front of. “The cat is under the table.”, “My book is on the shelf.”

## Describing your home with prepositions

Add “between” to the prepositions above and you can describe almost any room. In English the preposition comes before the noun: the Turkish order “masanın altında” becomes “under the table”.

- “The lamp is on the bedside table.”
- “My shoes are under the bed.”
- “The sofa is between the window and the door.”
- “The bin is behind the kitchen door.”
- “The coffee table is in front of the sofa.”
- “The towels are in the cupboard.”

The Turkish ending “-de” matches several English prepositions: “on the wall”, “on the floor”, “in the drawer”, “in the corner”. Think “on” for things touching a surface and “in” for things inside something.

## Describing a room with there is and there are

To say what is in a room, use “there is” with a singular noun and “there are” with a plural noun: “There's a big mirror in the hall.”, “There are two armchairs in the living room.” Negatives and questions: “There isn't a bath, but there's a shower.”, “Is there a balcony?”

## Model text: a small flat

This text describes a flat using the words in this post: “I live in a small flat on the third floor. There's a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. In the living room, there's a grey sofa between two windows and a coffee table in front of it. The kitchen is small, but there's a big fridge next to the door. My bedroom is my favourite room. There's a desk under the window and there are a lot of books on the shelves.”

After reading it, write five or six sentences about your own home in the same order: first the rooms, then what is in each room, and last where things are.

## Common mistakes Turkish speakers make

Common mistakes with home words

| Mistake | Correct | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| I bought a new furniture. | I bought a new piece of furniture. | “Furniture” is uncountable; in general, say “some furniture”. |
| My clothes are in the cupboard. | My clothes are in the wardrobe. | A cupboard for clothes is a “wardrobe”; kitchen and bathroom ones are “cupboards”. |
| We're sitting in the salon. | We're sitting in the living room. | In English, a “salon” is a place like a hair or beauty salon. |
| There is two bedrooms. | There are two bedrooms. | Plural nouns take “there are”. |
| The picture is in the wall. | The picture is on the wall. | A wall is a surface, so it takes “on”. |

British and American English use different words for some things at home: flat – apartment, cooker – stove, wardrobe – closet, tap – faucet.

## Game: a home word hunt

Write the English names of household objects on small pieces of paper. The child draws a paper, finds the object, and sticks the label on it. Leave the labels up for a week and read a few together each day.

To keep going, see [English instructions at home: everyday commands with children](https://grammardots.com/en/blog/english-instructions-for-kids-at-home) and [There is or there are? Saying what exists](https://grammardots.com/en/blog/there-is-vs-there-are).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between “house” and “home”?

“House” is the building; “home” is the place where you live and belong: “I'm at home.”

### How long should we leave the labels up?

About a week, reading a few together each day, then swap them for new objects.

### How do you say “zemin kat” in English?

British English says “ground floor” and American English says “first floor”. So a British “first floor” is the floor above the ground floor.