English Vocabulary Exercises for B1 – Describing houses and homes

1. Complete the types of home with a, e, i, o and u.

7   h__ __s__b__ __t

8   t__rr__c__d  h__ __s__

9   s__m__-d__t__ch__d  h__ __s__

10   th__tch__d  c__tt__g__

11   d__t__ch__d  h__ __s__

2. Look at the picture and complete the labels.

10   s__________ d___________

11   p________________

12   l________________

13   p________________

14   p________________

15   d________________

16   g________________

17   h________________

3. Listen to someone describing their ideal home. Complete the description with the missing words.

My ideal home is in the city. It’s a 1………………………….. flat, in an 2………………………….., modern building in a 3………………………….. . It’s 4………………………….. for shops, restaurants and cinemas. Inside, it isn’t at all 5………………………….. . In fact, it’s very 6…………………………..

4. Write a short description of your ideal home. Include the information below. Use words from exercises 1 and 2 and phrases from exercise 3 to help you.

–  Where is it?

–  What type of home is it?

–  Rooms and other features

–  Adjectives to describe it

    …………………………………………………

    …………………………………………………

    …………………………………………………

    …………………………………………………

    …………………………………………………

Extra exercises

1. Match the definitions with the types of home below.

bungalow      flat      mansion      semi-detached house

terraced house      thatched cottage

1   a set of rooms usually on one floor, often in a tower block ………………………………

2   a house which shares one wall with another to form a pair of houses ………………………………

3   a house without stairs which is on one level ………………………………

4   a small, old house with a roof made of straw ………………………………

5   a house in a line of similar houses ………………………………

6   a very large house ………………………………

2. Complete the sentences with the words below.

attic      basement      conservatory      drive

fence      landing      patio      shutters

1   We often have lunch outside on the ……………………………… when the weather is fine.

2   There’s a wooden ……………………………… around the garden to keep people out.

3   They’re building a ……………………………… onto the outside of their house.

4   His flat doesn’t get a lot of light because it’s in the ………………………………

5   Go up the stairs to the ……………………………… and the bathroom is on the left.

6   All of my old toys are up in the ………………………………

7   It’s dark in here because I haven’t opened the ……………………………… yet.

8   Our garage is full of old furniture, so we have to leave our car on the ………………………………

3. Replace the underlined words with the adjectives below.

charming      contemporary      cosy

cramped      dilapidated      lively

1   We’ve just bought a very attractive old farmhouse which we’re going to restore. ………………………………

2   The living room looked extremely warm and inviting in the firelight. ………………………………

3   I’m looking for a place in a fun and exciting part of town. ………………………………

4   Nobody has lived in the family home for years, so today it looks in very bad condition. ………………………………

5   Their living quarters are uncomfortably small because four of them are sharing the same room. ………………………………

6   She lives in a flat in a modern building which is very conveniently located. ………………………………