Close menu

Real Easy English

Easy level

Talking about mess

Episode 250822 / 22 Aug 2025

(Photo: Getty)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Follow the Learning Easy English podcast

Download a free worksheet

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction

Georgie and Beth have a real conversation in easy English about being messy or tidy. Learn to talk about mess and cleaning.

Vocabulary

mess
something that is dirty or untidy

messy 
describes a place that is untidy or dirty, or a person that doesn't clean things and makes a mess

tidy
describes a place that is clean, or a person that cleans things and doesn't make a mess

to-do list
a list of tasks or jobs you need to do

Transcript

Beth
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Beth.

Georgie
And I'm Georgie. You can find a video version of this podcast and a worksheet to help you learn on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Beth
Hello, Georgie. How are you today?

Georgie
I'm very well, thank you, Beth. How are you?

Beth
I'm very good, very good. Today we are talking about mess. Now, mess is when something is untidy. I left my house in a bit of a mess this morning.

Georgie
Oh dear, Beth. That's not very good.

Beth
I slept in a bit too long. My kitchen is a mess. There are pans on the side. I don't want to think about it really.

Georgie
Beth, that sounds disgusting. Are you a messy person in general?

Beth
I like things to be clean, but if there is a bit of mess, I'm OK with it. But I try to sort out the mess as soon as I can. But you know how sometimes you cook dinner, for example, and then I don't do the washing up immediately because I want to eat my food hot. So I will eat, relax for a bit, and then I will clean the kitchen.

Georgie
Do you have like a rule in your house for the length of time you can leave the washing up? Like, does it have to be that evening or can it be the next day?

Beth
I like it to be that evening, but it's not always that evening, which I don't like. What about you in your house? Is it tidy? Is it messy?

Georgie
It's usually quite tidy because I live with two other people. So we all try to be considerate with the shared spaces. So, yeah. And my room, I try to tidy every few days. So, yeah.

Beth
That sounds quite tidy.

Georgie
Beth, do you have a favourite job to do around the house? Or a least favourite job?

Beth
I have a least favourite job and that is washing up. I hate washing the dishes, but we have a dishwasher so I use the dishwasher. But there are some things, like some pans that I should wash up. So I sometimes do them, but my husband does them quite a lot.

Georgie
Is there any way that you make washing up a more enjoyable activity?

Beth
There is. I put music on, I put a song on, and I make sure I've finished by the end of the song, and it just makes me happy because I can just sing along and not focus on hating washing up. And it's not even that bad.

Georgie
I quite like tidying my room because I find it quite satisfying, because you, you end up with a good result at the end. You have a tidy space to relax in and spend time in. That's actually on my to-do list at the moment. Later I'm going to go home and tidy my room.

Beth, do you have anything on your to-do list?

Beth
I do need to hoover, so hoovering is on my to-do list. A to-do list is a list of jobs that you need to do. So I do need to hoover. But I'm not sure if I'll do it today. I might do it tomorrow.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we heard during the conversation, starting with mess. A mess is when something is untidy or dirty. For example, this morning I left my kitchen in a bit of a mess.

Georgie
We also used the adjective messy to describe a dirty or untidy place. We can also describe a person as messy, which means that they don't clean things and they often make a mess.

Beth
The opposite of messy is tidy. So a place, like your bedroom, or Georgie's bedroom, can be tidy, and you can also be described as a tidy person. That's if you usually clean things and don't make a mess.

Georgie
And a to-do list is a list of jobs you need to do – sometimes jobs around the house, like cleaning.

Beth
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English. If you've enjoyed this episode about mess and want to learn more vocabulary for cleaning, Georgie has made a video – Phrasal verbs for housework. Find it on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Georgie
And don't forget to try the worksheet on our website to test what you've learned. We'll be back next week with another conversation in easy English. See you then.

Beth
Bye!

 

Now try this...

Download a free worksheet

Watch phrasal verbs for housework

ሐድሽ ፓድካስትታት ተመልከት Real Easy English

ምሳኹም ትማልእዎ

ፒ.ዲ.ኤፍ ኣራግፉ
Download Audio
Download Transcript

ፖድካስት

Learning Easy English