Vocabulary and Terminology for Everyday Life

Common Words and Phrases

Pannikin: a small pan or cup made of metal and used for eating or drinking.

I dare say: used for saying something is probably true, although you do not know for certain.

Scores of: lots of.

Obsolete: no longer used because something newer has replaced it.

Pedant: someone who gives too much importance to details and formal rules, especially of grammar.

An afterthought: something that you think of and say after you have finished saying something.

Vapid: showing no sign of intelligence.

Eagerness: enthusiasm.

Flittered: appeared for a very short time.

Types of Houses

Detached House

Having no wall in common with another building.

Bungalow

A small house or summer cottage.

Loft

An upper room or storage area beneath a sloping roof; attic.

Semi-detached House

A house joined by a party wall to another house or row of houses.

Terraced Houses

A row of houses connected to one another.

Cottage

A modest vacation house, as at a lake or mountain resort.

Basement

The lowermost portion of a structure.

Conservatory

A building with a glass roof, for growing and displaying plants; greenhouse.

Parts of a House and Garden

Drive

A driveway or a path leading to a house.

Fence

A barrier enclosing or surrounding a field, yard.

Hedge

A row of bushes or small trees forming a fence or boundary.

Landing

The level floor between flights of stairs.

Verandah

A porch.

Utility Room

A room reserved for a washing machine and other appliances.

Shed

A slight or rude structure built for shelter or storage.

Porch

A raised platform on the outside of a building.

Real Estate and Legal Terms

To Draft a Contract

To sketch or design a contract.

Estate Agent

A business that arranges the sale and renting of homes and land.

Landlord

A person who owns the house that you live in and to whom you pay rent.

Tenant

Someone who pays money to live in a room or property.

Take Out a Mortgage

To borrow money from a bank or lender to buy a property.

Common Idioms and Phrases

• For ages
• Without delay (sin retaso)
• To take legal actions
• To do the trick
• To invade one's privacy
• No doubt
• A total shock
• To be honest
• Needless to say
• To lodge a formal complaint (presentar una demanda formal)
• To put in a complaint (poner en una reclamación)
• To pull something down
• To go round (dar la vuelta)
• To go behind someone's back (ir detrás de alguien atrás)
• To rehearse (to practice)
• To pay a deposit (to settle a debt by handing over money)
• Antisocial behavior (unable to associate in a normal way with other people)
• To have a cheek (to be disrespectful or impudent)