1.11 Housing

Table of Contents

Overview of Housing in German

Talking about housing in German helps you describe where and how you live, ask others about their home, and understand simple ads or descriptions of flats and houses. At A1 level, you learn the most basic words and structures that you will later combine with location expressions and the phrase “es gibt” in the child chapters.

This chapter introduces the core vocabulary for types of housing, basic parts of a home, and essential furniture, together with simple phrases to describe your home in German.

Important: In this chapter you focus on vocabulary and very simple sentences about housing. Detailed structures with “es gibt” and more precise location expressions are covered in the following subchapters.

Types of Housing

In German, you often start by saying what kind of place you live in. These are very common words you will meet in everyday conversation and in simple ads.

Common types of housing:

German	English	Notes
die Wohnung	apartment, flat	Very frequent word for where you live
das Haus	house
das Einfamilienhaus	single-family house	A house for one family
das Reihenhaus	terraced house	Houses attached in a row
das Hochhaus	high-rise building	Many floors, many apartments
das Studentenwohnheim	student dormitory	Often “Wohnheim” for short
das Zimmer	room	Can mean own room in shared flat
die WG (Wohngemeinschaft)	shared flat	People share an apartment

If someone asks you “Wo wohnst du?” (Where do you live?), you can answer with a simple structure:

“Ich wohne in …”

Examples:
“Ich wohne in einer Wohnung.”
“Ich wohne in einem Haus.”
“Ich wohne in einer WG.”

At this level, do not worry about the endings after “in”. You will meet the correct case forms later. Focus on recognizing the housing words.

Parts of a Building

To describe where your flat is, you need words for floors and entrances. These words are very common in addresses and in buildings.

Key words for parts of a building:

German	English
das Erdgeschoss	ground floor
der erste Stock	first floor (above ground)
der zweite Stock	second floor
der dritte Stock	third floor
die Treppe	stairs
der Aufzug / der Fahrstuhl	elevator, lift
der Eingang	entrance
der Hof	courtyard
der Balkon	balcony
die Terrasse	terrace, patio
der Keller	basement, cellar
die Garage	garage

Example sentences:
“Meine Wohnung ist im zweiten Stock.”
“Der Aufzug ist kaputt.”
“Die Garage ist im Hof.”

Again, full details about locations and prepositions come later. Here, try to understand and use the nouns.

Rooms in a Home

You also need words for the rooms inside a home. These are essential when you describe your flat or talk about furniture.

Important room vocabulary:

German	English	Notes
das Zimmer	room	General word
das Wohnzimmer	living room	“Wohn” from “wohnen” (to live)
das Schlafzimmer	bedroom	“Schlaf” from “schlafen” (sleep)
die Küche	kitchen
das Bad / das Badezimmer	bathroom	Both are common
die Toilette / das WC	toilet	“WC” said “ve-ze”
das Esszimmer	dining room	Less common in small apartments
das Arbeitszimmer	study, office room
der Flur / der Gang	corridor, hallway
der Balkon	balcony	Also a building part

To say what rooms your home has, you can use simple sentences like:

“Meine Wohnung hat ein Wohnzimmer und eine Küche.”
“Das Schlafzimmer ist klein.”
“Die Küche ist groß.”

Pattern to describe rooms:
Meine Wohnung hat + [article] + [room].
Example: “Meine Wohnung hat ein Bad.”

You will learn more complete structures with “es gibt” and location expressions later, so here you just practice naming and recognizing the rooms.

Basic Furniture and Objects

To talk about your home in more detail, you need basic furniture vocabulary. At A1 level, focus on the most frequent items.

Common furniture:

German	English
das Bett	bed
der Tisch	table
der Stuhl	chair
das Sofa / die Couch	sofa, couch
der Sessel	armchair
der Schrank	cupboard, wardrobe
der Kleiderschrank	wardrobe
das Regal	shelf, bookcase
der Schreibtisch	desk
die Lampe	lamp
der Teppich	carpet, rug

Other useful objects:

German	English
die Tür	door
das Fenster	window
der Spiegel	mirror
der Fernseher	TV
der Kühlschrank	fridge
der Herd	stove, cooker
die Waschmaschine	washing machine

You can describe your rooms with very simple sentences:

“Im Schlafzimmer steht ein Bett.”
“Im Wohnzimmer ist ein Sofa.”
“Die Lampe ist neu.”

The detailed patterns with location prepositions will appear in the child chapter on location expressions. Here, the most important thing is that you can name the items.

Describing Size and Quality (Basic Adjectives)

To give a simple description of your home, you can combine noun vocabulary with very basic adjectives. You already know many of these from other topics, but they are especially common in housing.

Useful adjectives for housing:

German	English
groß	big
klein	small
hell	bright
dunkel	dark
teuer	expensive
billig	cheap
neu	new
alt	old
gemütlich	cozy
modern	modern
laut	noisy
ruhig	quiet

Example sentences:
“Die Wohnung ist klein, aber gemütlich.”
“Das Haus ist alt.”
“Das Zimmer ist hell und ruhig.”

Basic description pattern:
[Noun] ist [adjective].
Examples: “Die Wohnung ist groß.” “Das Zimmer ist ruhig.”

For now, do not worry about adjective endings after articles. At this level, you can use the simple pattern with “ist” to make clear and correct sentences.

Simple Questions about Housing

To talk with someone about their home, you need a few very common questions. Later chapters on question words and word order will explain the grammar in detail. Here, focus on understanding and answering.

Typical questions:

German	English
Wo wohnst du?	Where do you live?
Wohnst du in einer Wohnung oder in einem Haus?	Do you live in a flat or in a house?
Wie viele Zimmer hat die Wohnung?	How many rooms does the flat have?
Ist die Wohnung groß oder klein?	Is the flat big or small?
Ist die Wohnung teuer?	Is the flat expensive?

Short answers:
“Ich wohne in einer Wohnung.”
“Die Wohnung hat drei Zimmer.”
“Sie ist klein, aber billig.”

Remember that complete patterns and different word orders for questions are covered in other grammar chapters. Here, the main goal is to understand these very frequent questions and to answer them with the housing vocabulary you have just learned.

New Vocabulary from this Chapter

German	English
die Wohnung	apartment, flat
das Haus	house
das Einfamilienhaus	single-family house
das Reihenhaus	terraced house
das Hochhaus	high-rise building
das Studentenwohnheim	student dormitory
die Wohngemeinschaft / die WG	shared flat
das Zimmer	room
das Erdgeschoss	ground floor
der erste Stock	first floor (above ground)
der zweite Stock	second floor
der dritte Stock	third floor
die Treppe	stairs
der Aufzug	elevator, lift
der Fahrstuhl	elevator, lift
der Eingang	entrance
der Hof	courtyard
der Balkon	balcony
die Terrasse	terrace, patio
der Keller	basement, cellar
die Garage	garage
das Wohnzimmer	living room
das Schlafzimmer	bedroom
die Küche	kitchen
das Bad	bathroom
das Badezimmer	bathroom
die Toilette	toilet
das WC	toilet
das Esszimmer	dining room
das Arbeitszimmer	study, office room
der Flur	corridor, hallway
der Gang	corridor, hallway
das Bett	bed
der Tisch	table
der Stuhl	chair
das Sofa	sofa
die Couch	couch
der Sessel	armchair
der Schrank	cupboard, wardrobe
der Kleiderschrank	wardrobe
das Regal	shelf, bookcase
der Schreibtisch	desk
die Lampe	lamp
der Teppich	carpet, rug
die Tür	door
das Fenster	window
der Spiegel	mirror
der Fernseher	TV
der Kühlschrank	fridge
der Herd	stove, cooker
die Waschmaschine	washing machine
groß	big
klein	small
hell	bright
dunkel	dark
teuer	expensive
billig	cheap
neu	new
alt	old
gemütlich	cozy
modern	modern
laut	noisy
ruhig	quiet
Wo wohnst du?	Where do you live?
Wie viele Zimmer …?	How many rooms …?