Describing your house and home in Spanish

• Use adjectives to describe your home and your bedroom.

• Prepositions of place, such as 'next to', 'behind' and 'opposite' explain where rooms and objects are in your house

• This guide contains reading and listening practice.

Have a look at the illustration for useful nouns for talking about different rooms:

Other useful nouns include:

Useful vocabulary for talking about potential problems include:

Adjectives normally go after the noun in Spanish and agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the nouns they describe.

For example:

el jardín bonito - the beautiful garden

la casa moderna - the modern house

It is important to know the gender of nouns in Spanish as adjectives have to agree with (or match) the noun they describe.

For example:

• un edificio feo – an ugly building

• una habitación limpia - a clean bedroom/room

The endings in the adjectives feo and limpia have changed to match the gender of the nouns before them.

Now look at the number of each noun and how the adjective has changed in these phrases:

• los edificios feos – the ugly buildings

• las habitaciones limpas – the clean rooms

Feos is masculine and plural to agree with los edificios and limpias is feminine and plural to agree with las habitaciones.

Some adjectives, which do not end in o or a do not change according to gender, but s or es is added at the end if they are plural.

For example:

• mi casa ideal – my ideal house

• mis casas ideales – my ideal houses

• el piso enorme – the enormous apartment

• los pisos enormes – the enormous apartments

Find out more about using adjectives in Spanish in the Adjectives in Spanish guide.

Read about what life and housing is like for the inhabitants of Caracas and answer the questions below in English.

La vida en Venezuela es a menudo muy dura porque la mayoría de la gente no puede permitirse los recursos necesarios como la comida y la medicina. En la capital, Caracas, mucha gente vive en favelas, donde las condiciones son muy difíciles. Algunas familias comparten una sola habitación, donde cocinan, duermen y descansan.

Pero hay organizaciones que luchan para mejorar las condiciones de vida de los Venezolanos.

*favela = informal settlements

Useful vocabulary to describe furniture and other household items include:

For example:

En mi dormitorio hay una cama, una mesa y una luz. – In my bedroom there is a bed, a table and a light.

Hay un reloj cerca de la ventana. – There is a clock next to the window.

Useful vocabulary to describe materials that furniture and household items can be made from includes:

For example:

Mi mesa es de madera. – My table is made of wood.

Reciclo el vidrio y el papel en casa. – I recycle glass and paper at home.

Useful adjectives to describe houses and where you live include:

For example:

Cerca de mi casa las calles son limpias y tranquilas. – Near my house the streets are clean and quiet.

Vivo en una casa bonita, que está situada en las afueras de la ciudad. – I live in a pretty house which is situated in the outskirts of the town.

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Prepositions are words used to link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a sentence. They act to connect the people, objects, time and locations of a sentence.

Prepositions are usually short words, and they are normally placed directly in front of nouns.

Common prepositions of place in Spanish include:

For example:

En el salón la tele está enfrente de la puerta. – In the living room the TV is opposite the door.

En mi dormitorio la cama está al lado de la ventana. - In my bedroom the bed is next to the window.

How to say 'on' or 'on top of' in Spanish

Use sobre or en to mean ‘on top of’. When you mean ‘on’ but not ‘on top of’ use en.

For example:

Está sobre la mesa - it’s on (top of) the table

lo vi en la tele (I saw it on the TV)

Prepositions with 'de' followed by a masculine noun

Several prepositions are followed by de and then the definite article (el/la/los/las) and the noun.

However if the preposition followed by de is then followed by a masculine singular noun, de + el contract to become del:

The preposition 'a' followed by a masculine noun

The preposition of time and place a, also contracts when followed by a masculine singular noun to become al:

Find out more about using prepositions of place in the Prepositions of place and time in Spanish guide.

Click or tap on Start to listen to Pilar and Malek describing where they live.

Decide which three statements are true for each person.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when talking about house and home.

Useful vocabulary for talking about your house and home includes:

For example:

La calefacción no funciona muy bien en mi casa. – The heating doesn’t work very well in my house.

En el centro de la ciudad hay edificios enormes y feos. – In the centre of the town there are enormous ugly buildings.

Mi casa es de piedra. – My house is made of stone.

Vivo en una casa bonita, que está situada en las afueras de la ciudad. – I live in a pretty house which is situated in the outskirts of the town.

All Higher Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when talking about house and home.

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for talking about your house and home, why not have a look at the Describing holiday activities in Spanish guide?