House and home in depth

A2 covers basic rooms and furniture. B1 covers the systems around the home: how renting works (lease, deposit, utilities), how buying works (mortgage, down payment, HOA), the rooms American homes have that aren’t in A2 textbooks (walk-in closet, half-bath, finished basement, pantry), and the appliances and infrastructure.

US housing language has its own quirks: first floor = ground floor (causing endless confusion with Europeans), apartment ≠ flat, yard ≠ garden. This lesson covers all of it.

Housing types

Where Americans live

Where the housing is

• suburban / suburb — outside the city, residential
• urban / city / downtown — in the city
• rural / countryside — out in the country
• gated community — private neighborhood with a gate
• subdivision — a planned residential development
• HOA neighborhood — has a homeowners association with rules
• historic district — old, protected
• walkable neighborhood — can do errands on foot (rare in US)
• car-dependent — need a car for everything (most US suburbs)

Renting in the US

This vocabulary is essential for anyone living in the US. The system is dense and there are many gotchas.

The arrangement

Money you pay

• rent — monthly payment
• first and last (month) — first month + last month upfront (common in some cities)
• security deposit / deposit — refundable money upfront against damage
• broker fee — paid once, often non-refundable
• application fee — to apply for the unit
• pet deposit / pet rent — extra for pets
• utilities — gas, electric, water, internet, trash (sometimes included, sometimes not)
• rent control / rent-stabilized — government-regulated rent caps (NYC, SF)

Utilities

The phrase “utilities included” in a listing means the rent covers some/all of the above — read carefully which.

Useful renting phrases

• Is this place pet-friendly?
• What’s included in the rent?
• Are utilities covered?
• When is the lease up? / When does the lease end?
• I’m month-to-month. (= no fixed lease, can leave with 30-day notice)
• I’m subletting from a friend.
• We’re looking for a third roommate.
• I just signed a lease for a 1BR in Brooklyn.

Buying — homeownership vocabulary

Useful chunks:

• We’re looking for a starter home in the suburbs.
• Closing costs are around 2-5% of the purchase price.
• We’re getting pre-approved for a mortgage.
• The HOA fees are $400 a month.
• We made an offer above asking.

Rooms — beyond A2

A2 covers bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room. B1 fills out a real American home.

Listings often quantify a home as 3BR/2.5BA (3 bedrooms, 2 full + 1 half bathroom).

Outside the house

• yard / front yard / backyard — grass area (in US English; UK uses garden)
• garden — in US specifically means a planted area (vegetable garden, flower garden), not the whole grass area
• lawn — the grass itself
• driveway — private road from street to garage
• patio / deck — outdoor sitting area (deck = wood, often raised)
• porch / front porch — covered entry sitting area
• fence — boundary
• shed — small storage building
• pool / swimming pool — backyard pool
• mailbox — at the curb or attached

Floors and orientation

The classic confusion:

Americans count from the street level as “first”. Brits count from the floor above the street as “first”. Be careful in elevators in international buildings.

• upstairs / downstairs — higher / lower floor
• on the ground level — street level (sometimes used in US)
• rooftop / roof — top
• ceiling vs floor — top of room / bottom of room

Appliances and fixtures

The standard US apartment/house comes with:

Smart home

• smart thermostat / Nest — programmable temperature control
• Ring / smart doorbell — video doorbell
• smart lock — keyless entry
• smart speaker / Alexa / Google Home — voice assistant

Common home issues — things that go wrong

• leak / leaky — water dripping (The faucet is leaky)
• clogged / clog — blocked (The drain is clogged)
• broken / busted — not working
• jammed — stuck (door, lock)
• stuck — won’t move
• flooded — full of water
• drafty — cold air gets in
• moldy / mold — fungus
• mildew — surface mold
• rot / rotten — decay (wood)
• infestation (bugs, mice, roaches) — pests in numbers
• roach / cockroach — common urban pest
• mice / mouse — rodents
• bedbugs — feared infestation
• out of order — not working (often elevators)
• fixer-upper — needs work
• move-in ready — perfect condition

Verbs

• fix / repair — make it work
• call a plumber / electrician / handyman / super (superintendent) — pros to fix things
• submit a maintenance request / put in a work order — ask landlord to fix
• DIY / do it yourself — fix yourself
• renovate / redo / remodel — major work
• paint — repaint walls
• upgrade — improve a system

Moving

• move in / move out — change residence
• move-in date — when you arrive
• moving truck / U-Haul — rental truck
• movers / moving company — pros who help
• pack / unpack — bag up / unbag
• boxes / packing materials
• change of address (USPS) — mail forwarding
• forwarding address — where to send your mail
• sublet your place — rent it out short-term
• walkthrough — final inspection at move-out
• get your deposit back — recover the security deposit

Collocations

• pay rent / utilities / a deposit / a mortgage
• sign a lease / a contract
• break a lease (= leave early, often penalized)
• renew a lease
• make an offer / repairs / a payment
• put down a deposit / 20%
• furnish / unfurnished / furnished — has/lacks furniture
• move in / move out / move up / move out of state
• fix up the place
• kick someone out / evict — force out
• own / rent / lease — possession types
• be on the market — for sale
• off the market — sold or not for sale
• sold above / below asking — the negotiation outcome

Phrases and expressions

• home sweet home — pleasure of being home
• make yourself at home — feel comfortable
• pull up a chair — join us
• a roof over your head — basic shelter
• a place of your own — independence
• the housing market — overall buying/selling environment
• a buyer’s / seller’s market — favors buyer / seller
• break ground — begin construction
• move heaven and earth — go to extremes (idiom, not housing-specific)
• putting down roots — settling in for the long term
• outgrown the place — gotten too big for it

US-specific summary

Common Russian-speaker mistakes

1. Flat used in US contexts. Use apartment. Flat sounds British. Americans rarely use it.
2. Garden meaning yard. In US, the grass-and-trees area around your house is the yard. Garden = a specific planted area within it (vegetable garden, herb garden, flower garden). Don’t say We sat in the garden meaning the lawn — say backyard.
3. On the first floor meaning ground floor. In US, first floor = ground floor. So the cafe is on the first floor in a US building means street-level. In Russian/UK convention, this would be the second floor in the US. Always confirm if you’re in an international building.
4. Quarter meaning room or apartment** (false friend). Russian квартира doesn’t translate as quarter. Quarter in English = a fourth, or a city district, or a US 25-cent coin. For an apartment, say apartment.
5. Plate on a stove (false friend). The cooking surface in Russian плита doesn’t translate as plate. In US say stovetop / cooktop / burner / range.
6. Receiver / toilet mix. The room with the toilet is the bathroom in US English, even when there’s no bath. Don’t ask Where’s the toilet? in a private home — it’s not rude, just slightly off; ask Where’s the bathroom? In a public place, Where’s the restroom? is most polite.
7. Make a repair (calque). Use fix something / get something fixed / do repairs / make repairs (only in formal/contractor contexts). Casual: I need to fix the door.
8. Pay for the apartment for pay rent** confusion**. Say pay rent / pay the rent — not pay for the apartment (which sounds like a one-time purchase).
9. Living room vs hall confusion. The main relaxing room in US is the living room. Hall in US = a corridor or entrance area, NOT the main room. (BrE hall can mean a large room.)
10. House used too broadly. In US, house specifically = a standalone single-family home. If you live in an apartment, don’t say my house — say my apartment / my place. Place is the universal informal word: come over to my place.

Summary

• US housing types: house, single-family home, townhouse, condo, apartment, studio, 1BR/2BR.
• Renting: lease, tenant, landlord, security deposit, broker fee, utilities, sublet, month-to-month, renters insurance.
• Buying: mortgage, down payment, closing, realtor, HOA, property tax, escrow, equity, refi.
• Rooms: master bedroom, walk-in closet, half-bath, finished basement, attic, garage, pantry, mudroom.
• Outside: yard / front yard / backyard, lawn, driveway, patio, deck, porch.
• Critical AmE: first floor = ground floor, yard ≠ garden, apartment ≠ flat.
• Appliances: dishwasher, garbage disposal, washer/dryer, A/C unit, thermostat, microwave.
• Issues: leak, clog, broken, jammed, stuck, flooded, mold, infestation.
• Verbs: fix, repair, renovate, remodel, sublet, evict, move in/out, sign a lease, break a lease.

That’s the end of the Vocabulary themes module. Next module: Phrasal verbs — the 100+ multi-word verbs that turn textbook English into real conversation.