English for Conversations about HOME – Questions, Answers, Vocab

“Home” is one of the most common English conversation practice topics, so knowing how to talk about your house, flat etc can be useful. In this lesson, you will learn typical questions, answers, vocabulary and phrases used for talking about your home in English conversations.

What vocabulary do I need to talk about my home in English?

To prepare to talk about your home, learn individual English words for areas and rooms (e.g., hallway, bathroom). You should also revise adjectives, collocations and phrases describing your home’s size, style, and features (e.g., spacious, a cosy fireplace). Finally, learning common questions about your home helps you answer these correctly in conversations.

Conversation questions about home

Here are a few typical questions that English speakers might ask you about your home. It’s useful to make sure you understand questions like these to help you practise talking about your home.

• What kind of home/ place do you live in? (is your home a flat, cottage, house, etc?)
• How long have you lived there?
• What’s your home like? (give a general description)
• Can you describe the inside of your home? (Give me a few basic details)
• What do you like most about your home? (Which aspect do you most admire?)
• Is there anything about your home that you’d like to change? (things you don’t like about it)

Answering questions about your home in natural English

There are many ways to answer questions about your home. Here are some possible natural answers to common questions on this topic.

If possible, try NOT to memorise answers word-for-word. Instead, use the patterns and phrases to practise talking about your own home, and in your own words:

What kind of home/ place do you live in?

To answer this question, you’ll need to know vocabulary for different types of home: house, flat, cottage, etc:

• Well, I live in a…
• My place is a…
• So, at the moment, I’m living in…
  • ..a flat.
  • ..a small cottage.
  • ..a shared house.
  • ..student accommodation / halls.
  • a detached house – not connected to another house
  • a semi-detached house (a semi) – connected to another house on one side
  • a terraced house (a terrace) – connected to other houses on both sides
  • a cottage – an old-fashioned house (not a flat)
  • a bungalow – a single-storey house (no upstairs!)
  • a flat – a single-story property in a block of several other flats
  • a studio flat – a single story flat with bedroom, kitchen and living space in one room, but separate bathroom
  • a bedsit – a small room in a house or block with just a bed and somewhere to cook in the same room.
  • a shared house – a bedroom you rent in a house with several other people (also called a “house share”).

How long have you lived in your home?

To say how long we’ve lived in our home, we need to use present perfect (simple or continuous) patterns:

• I’ve been living there for about two years, now.
• I’ve lived there since last February.
• I’ve been there for a few years, now.
• I’ve been living in that place ever since I moved to London.

Remember: When we use present perfect patterns like this, we need to use “since” for points in time (example: since 2020) and “for” for time periods (example: for ten years).
-I’ve been there since two months (incorrect)

What’s your home like?

When we hear the question “what is .. like?”, we need to give a quick, general description. We can also use related adjectives to describe the general feel of our homes (spacious, cosy, etc):

• Well,
  • it only has two rooms, so it’s a bit cramped.
  • It’s quite a big house, so it’s really spacious, inside.
  • It’s a small place, but it is quite cosy.
  • It’s quite an old house, so it can get a bit draughty in the winter.

Can you describe the inside of your home?

To answer this question you’ll need vocabulary for different parts of your home (bedroom, landing, etc). You may also need words to describe moving around inside your home (go upstairs, go through, etc):

• You have to go downstairs / go upstairs to the loo. (NOT to downstairs / to upstairs)
• My living room’s downstairs.
• The bathroom’s just on the right, at the top of the stairs.
• The kitchen’s just past the hall.
• You go through the kitchen and out into the garden.

What do you like most about your home?

Here, you could detail aspects of your home that make you feel happy. We often use patterns like “the shape of..” and “It’s such a….” to say what we like about our homes.

You could also use fixed pair phrases like “nice and cosy”, “nice and warm” or “relax and unwind”.

These kinds of patterns will make your answers sound more natural:

• I really like the shape of my house.
• I adore the décor in the kitchen.
• I like the traditional feel of it.
• The living room’s usually nice and warm.
• The bedrooms are nice and cool in summer
• I find the modern features really convenient.
• It’s such a cosy place to live.
• It’s such a cosy room to sit in.
• It’s my favourite place to relax and unwind.

It’s a good idea to vary structure and vocabulary in your statements when talking about your home. So instead of ” I like …… “, you could perhaps say, “I really love……” or, “It’s such a …… room“. Finding different ways to say the same thing is a great way to sound more natural in real English.

Is there anything you’d like to change about your home?

To answer this question, we need to talk about things we DON’T like about hour homes.
All example answers here refer to “imaginary” outcomes. To build answers like these, we use second conditional patterns:

• Well I guess,
• Well, to be honest,
  • It would be nice if it was a bit warmer in winter.
  • I wish there were more places to store things.
  • It’d be great if it was a bit bigger.
  • I’d prefer if it had bigger windows.
  • It could do with redecorating. ( = it needs to be redecorated)
  • I’d really like to change the carpets.
  • I think it would be cosier with an open fireplace.

Giving longer answers about your home

In natural native speaker conversations, we often hear more general questions about our homes. For these kinds of questions, we need to give longer answers.

General question example

So, can you tell me (a few things) about where you live?

To answer general questions, we need to provide a few connected answers. This means we connect our shorter answers using conjunctions (example: and, so, but, though) to bring our ideas together. We also use discourse markers, (example: Well”, “in fact”, “I’d say“) to introduce new information:

Longer answer example:

Well, I live in a small cottage, and in fact I’ve been living there for about two years, now. It’s a small place, but it is quite cosy, and I really like the shape of it. One thing that is a bit strange about my place is that my living room’s upstairs, but I do love the décor in that room. I‘d say my cottage is my favourite place to relax and unwind, but I must admit, it would be great if it was a bit bigger.

Essential vocabulary for talking about your home in English

Here are some really common words and phrases which are connected to homes and houses. This vocabulary will develop your range of expression when talking about your home with other English speakers.

Adjectives to describe the inside of your home

These adjectives are very useful when you want to describe areas inside your home, such as rooms:

• Spacious / roomy – lots of space: My house is nice and roomy.
• Cramped – not enough space: The bathroom’s a little cramped, so it’s often hard to move around.
• Snug / cosy – small but in a good way: The living room’s warm and cosy in winter.
• Well-ventilated – not too warm: my kitchen’s really well-ventilated.
• Draughty – cold air coming in: The bedroom’s sometimes a bit draughty when it gets cold.
• Modern / contemporary – up-to-date features: the dining room has a contemporary feel.
• Traditional – old-fashioned / not modern: The house has a traditional style.

Words for rooms and areas in your house

It’s a good idea to learn names for different rooms and sections of houses when you talk about your home. Try to learn these words as part of phrases. Doing this will help you remember other words, like articles and prepositions that we often use together with these words.

Remember: We usually say THE before rooms (e.g. the kitchen) if there is only one of those rooms in the house: the bathroom is on the right = there is only one bathroom in our house.
Common mistake: In my house, front door is very big (incorrect)

• front door – From the street, you walk through the gate and down the path to get to the front door.
• hall (or hallway) – When you’ve gone through the front door, you’ll be standing in the hall.
• living room / lounge / sitting room – The living room‘s where I like to relax.
• dining room – We don’t usually have our meals in the dining room, as it’s too small.
• kitchen – You’ll find the kitchen at the other end of the hall, right opposite the front door.
• back door – The back door‘s in the kitchen.
• the stairs – When you go up the stairs / when you go upstairs, you’ll see the bathroom.
• bedroom – This is the master bedroom.
• bathroom – The bathroom‘s on the right, at the top of the stairs.
• landing (small area at the top of the stairs) – You can see the hall if you look down from the landing.
• spare room – The spare room‘s upstairs next to my room.
• utility room – The utility room‘s where we leave clothes to dry.
• toilet / loo (UK) / bathroom (US) – Our downstairs loo‘s got no window, unfortunately!
• porch – We always take our shoes off in the porch before we go inside the house.
• conservatory – We often like to sit in the conservatory and read in the summer.
• loft / attic – You need a stepladder to get up into the loft / attic.
• garage – We use the garage to keep the car out of the rain.
• patio – We put pot plants on our patio.
• garden – Our garden‘s really shady, so it’s nice to sit out there in summer.

Common phrases with “home / house”

Here are a few common phrases that we often use when we’re giving details about our home lives:

• stay (at) home – I’m staying at home to look after the kids, today. (US = stay at home)
• stay in ( = not go out) – I’m tired – I think I’ll just stay in and watch a movie, tonight.
• go/come (back) home – I need to finish my essay, so I’m going back home, OK?
• leave home – (= to leave your parents and become independent) My best friend left home at 18!
• leave the/my/your, etc house – I usually leave my house at 7 on weekdays.
• share a house (= live with someone) – I share a house with three other students.
• move house (leave your home to move into a new home) – We’re moving house next week.
• tidy the house/flat, etc – I’ve spent two hours tidying the house today. Can you believe it?
• work from home (not AT home!) I’m so happy – my boss has said I can work from home today!

Homes and houses: extra practice questions and answers

Here are some extra questions and answers related to homes and houses. Practise these with a partner or with a teacher.

I’ve added a few vocabulary and language tips for each suggestion to make answers easier for you!

• Where did you live before? (comparing past and present homes)
  • used to / past simple patterns: e.g. “The place we used to live in was really small / We had a big kitchen in the old house”
  • past-present comparison patterns: e.g. “We’re much happier in our current house than we were in the last house”
• When did you move house? / when did move to your current house?
  • examples: “We moved house in 2020 / We decided to move out of our cottage / We needed a bigger place”
  • move out / move in / relocate / move house
• Tell me about where things are in your home!
  • location patterns: “The kitchen’s right next to the fridge / there’s a mirror over the fireplace / There’s a loo upstairs on the right”
• How much are you paying in rent? / Are your bills expensive?
  • rise + fall patterns: “the value of our flat has fallen (or gone up) / our rent’s stayed the same / We’re waiting for house prices to drop”
  • bills and costs examples: “we’re paying £800 in rent at the moment / Our water bills are pretty low / I’m paying a fortune for gas and electric!”
• Do you have a big mortgage? How much is your home insurance?
  • mortgage adjectives: a fixed-rate / variable / affordable mortgage
  • insurance phrases: monthly premiums / make a claim / insurance costs
  • examples: “We pay £400 in home insurance every month / We haven’t paid off our mortgage yet / My home insurance (premiums) went up after my last claim”
  • Culture: In the UK especially, it’s not usually polite to ask how much people have paid for things like houses, mortgages or rent (unless you are very good friends!) /
  • IELTS: Personal questions about money / prices / costs are unlikely to come up in speaking exams like IELTS speaking
• Is there anything about your home that you’d like to change?
  • examples: “I wish the living room was a big bigger / I don’t much like the decor in the kitchen / It would be nice to have a bigger garden”
• Have you made any improvements to your home? / Have you done any DIY in your home? (home improvement = making changes to your home / DIY = making home improvements by yourself)
  • example phrases: get an extension / (adding extra rooms to your house) tile the bathroom / paint the kitchen / build a patio
  • patterns: “we’re having the kitchen painted” (= a painter is doing the work for us) / “we’re painting the kitchen” (= we’re doing the work ourselves)
• What kinds of things do you enjoy doing at home?
  • phrases: stay in / spend a lot of time at home / relax in front of the fire / take off our shoes in the porch
• How do homes in your country compare with homes in the UK / US / Australia, etc?
  • examples: “Homes in my country don’t tend to have gardens like they do in the UK / Most people live in flats / People usually rent in my country whereas in the UK, people prefer to buy their own homes”

Talking about people connected with your home

If you need to talk about people you live with or rent from, etc, these home-related words for people may also come in handy:

• flat mate (UK) / roommate (US) – a person you share a house with
• lodger – someone who pays money to rent a room in a family house
• landlord / landlady – the person you rent your house or flat from
• tenant – a person who pays rent to live in a property
• estate agent – a company or person that helps you rent, buy or sell a property

Other ways to say “my/your/our home”

In real English conversations between friends, we don’t usually say “my house” or “my home” unless we are talking about property (buying or selling). Instead, it’s more natural to talk about your home with more natural phrases, like “our place” or “where we live”.
So here are are some more relaxed ways to say home or house:

• my place / your place, etc – Why don’t you come round to our place, tonight?
• mine/yours/ours, etc – Is it OK if I stay at yours, tonight?
• where I/you live – That’s where I live, over there!

Phrases for talking about “home” as an idea

Here are some useful alternative ways to refer to homes without saying “home” or “house”.

• a place to live – I had always wanted a place to live.
• somewhere to live – Everyone needs somewhere to live.
• a roof over your head – It’s so important to have a roof over your head. (any kind of home, however bad)