Describing Your House in French (Décrire sa maison)
Learning to describe your home in French is a great way to practise talking about rooms, floors, and where things are located.
Let’s start by understanding some key words that function slightly differently compared to English:
What’s the Difference Between la salle, la pièce, and la chambre?
Word
Meaning
Example
la chambre
Refers to a room for sleeping. It can mean a room, as in a hotel room, or a bedroom in a home.
la chambre à coucher
a bedroom, literally “room for sleeping”
la pièce
Refers to any room in a house, without specifying its purpose.
C’est une maison de dix pièces.
It’s a house with ten rooms.
la salle
Refers to a room with a specific function, often shared or public.
la salle de bains
bathroom
Useful Phrases and Expressions
French
English
Quelle est votre adresse ?
What is your address?
Nous avons une vue sur la mer depuis notre balcon.
We have a view of the sea from our balcony.
En haut / à l’étage
Upstairs
En bas / au rez-de-chaussée
Downstairs / on the ground floor
L’escalier mène à deux chambres à l’étage.
The stairs lead to two bedrooms upstairs.
Il y a deux étages.
There are two floors.
Maison à vendre
House for sale
Sentence Builder: Describing Your House
Sentence Builder
Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans votre maison ?
What is there in your house?
Start with
Au rez-de-chaussée, il y a…
On the ground floor, there is / there are…
Au premier étage, il y a…
On the first floor, there is / there are…
En haut, il y a…
Upstairs, there is / there are…
En bas, il y a…
Downstairs, there is / there are…
Rooms
une cuisine
a kitchen
un salon
a lounge / living room
une salle à manger
a dining room
une salle de bains
a bathroom
un bureau
a study / office
More than one
deux chambres
two bedrooms
trois chambres
three bedrooms
deux salles de bains
two bathrooms
un salon et une cuisine
a lounge and a kitchen
deux chambres et une salle de bains
two bedrooms and a bathroom
il y a
means both “there is” and “there are”.
au rez-de-chaussée
means “on the ground floor”.
en haut / en bas
mean “upstairs” and “downstairs”.
There Is / There Are (Il y a)
- Il = “it,” y = “there,” a = “has.”
So literally, il y a means “it has there”, but we translate it as “there is/are.” - The phrase never changes form in the plural – unlike English “there is/are,” French keeps it simple: always il y a!
Saying Where Things Are
To describe where a room or object is located, use these handy prepositions of place:
French
English
Example
à côté de
next to
Le salon est à côté de la cuisine.
The living room is next to the kitchen.
en face de
opposite / across from
La salle à manger est en face du salon.
The dining room is opposite the living room.
entre
between
La chambre est entre la salle de bains et le bureau.
The bedroom is between the bathroom and the study.
près de
near
La cuisine est près de l’entrée.
The kitchen is near the entrance.
loin de
far from
Le garage est loin de la maison.
The garage is far from the house.
derrière
behind
Le jardin est derrière la maison.
The garden is behind the house.
devant
in front of
Il y a une terrasse devant le salon.
There is a terrace in front of the living room.
Grammar note:
When using de after these expressions, it changes form depending on what follows:
- de + le → du → en face du salon
- de + la → de la → à côté de la cuisine
- de + l’ → de l’ → près de l’entrée
- de + les → des → entre les chambres
Try It Yourself: Describing Your House
Translate each sentence into French. Think of your answer first, then reveal the model answer.
Question 1
Give the following in French:
On the ground floor, there is a kitchen and a lounge.
Au rez-de-chaussée, il y a une cuisine et un salon.
Question 2
Give the following in French:
On the ground floor, there is a dining room.
Au rez-de-chaussée, il y a une salle à manger.
Question 3
Give the following in French:
Upstairs, there are three bedrooms.
Au premier étage, il y a trois chambres.
Video: An Exceptional Apartment
This YouTube short provides a look inside an apartment in the Champs-Élysées of Paris. This link will open a new window in YouTube.