A description of my house – A1 English writing

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  • Describing your home

    When you write about your home you can write about:

    • where it is
    • the different rooms in your home
    • what is in each room

     

    Vocabulary

    Check some vocabulary related to rooms and furniture or appliances before writing the essay. Here you can see some useful words:

    Vocabulary about the house: rooms and furniture

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    Prepositions

    Use these prepositions and phrases to describe where you live. You should review prepositions of place before writing this essay.

    • I live in a small house/big apartment.
    • The house is in/on a quiet street.
    • It’s near/not far from the train station.
    • There’s a garden behind the house.
    • It’s a ten-minute walk to/from the town centre.

    Note that when we say a ten-minute walk, a twenty-minute walk, etc. we use a number + a hyphen (–) + the word minute in the singular.
     

    There is/are

    Use there is/are to write about the things in or near your home.

    Use there is with singular nouns. Use a before the singular noun. The negative form is there isn’t.

    • There is a bus stop near the apartment.
    • There isn’t a bath in the bathroom.

    You can shorten there is to there’s.

    • There’s a single bed in the guest bedroom.

    Use there are with plural nouns. We often use some or a number before the noun.

    • There are two bedrooms in the flat.
    • There are some books on the shelf.

    In negative sentences, we use any, NOT some.

    • There aren’t any towels in the guest bedroom.

     

    Has/Has got

    You can also use has or has got to write about what is in the house. The negative form is doesn’t have or hasn’t got.

    • The flat has WIFI. The flat doesn’t have WIFI.
    • The house has got a garden. The house hasn’t got a garden.

     

    Just/Only

    You can use just or only when there are a small number of things. Look where just and only go in a sentence.

    • There’s just one bedroom. / There’s only one bedroom.  
    • The flat only has one bedroom. / The flat just has one bedroom
    • The house has only got a shower, not a bath. /   The house has just got a shower, not a bath.

     

    With

    Use with to add extra information about a home, room, or piece of furniture.

    • I live in a small house with a big garden.
    • There’s a kitchen with three chairs.
    • There’s a cupboard with five shelves.

     

    Some useful adverbs

    Start your sentence with one of these adverbs to talk about different parts of your home.

    • Upstairs, there are three bedrooms.
    • Downstairs, there is a kitchen and a living room.
    • Inside, there are five rooms.
    • Outside, there is a garden.

     

    Lists

    When we write about our homes we often include lists. Look at the list below.

    • In the living room, there is a sofa, two armchairs and a television.

    Look how

    • we use there is because the first item on the list (a sofa) is singular.
    • we use a comma (,) between the first items on the list. Before the last item, we write and.

    To contrast between positive and negative things in a list, use but.

    • The bathroom has a bath, a toilet and a washbasin, but it doesn’t have a shower.
    • There’s a microwave, a washing machine and a fridge-freezer, but there isn’t a dishwasher.

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