Vocabulary – In the house

Hi!

Here is a new vocabulary and facts set related to house places and items.

House いえ ie
Apartment アパート APA-TO
Storey, story, floor かい kai
Floor (ground) ゆか yuka
Ceiling 天井 てんじょう tenjou
Room, one’s place, one’s room 部屋 へや heya
Japanese style room 和室 わしつ washitsu
Kitchen  台所 だいどころ  daidokoro
キッチン  KITTCHIN
Fridge 冷蔵庫 れいぞう reizouko
Table テーブル te-buru
Chair 椅子 isu
Japanese floor cushion 座布団 とん zabuton
Japanese low dining/tea table 卓袱台 ちゃぶだい chabudai
Japanese heated low dining table 炬燵 たつ kotatsu
Tatami, floor mat たたみ tatami
Japanese wood and paper sliding door 障子 しょう shouji
Cupboard 食器棚 しょっきだな shokkidana
Drawer 引き出し ひきだし hikidashi
ドロア DOROA
Sink 流し なが nagashi
Tap 蛇口 じゃぐち jaguchi
Dishwasher 食器洗い機 しょっきあらいき shokkiaraiki
Cellar 地下室 しつ chikashitsu
Bedroom  寝室   しんしつ shinshitsu
Bed   ベッド BEDDO
Futon 布団 ふとん futon
Wardrobe, closet with sliding doors 押し入れ おしいれ oshiire
Desk つくえ tsukue
Bookshelf/ves, bookcase 本棚 ほんだな hondana
Bathroom  浴室   よくしつ yokushitsu
Bathtub 風呂 furo
Shower シャワー SHAWA-
Bath towel バスタオル BASUTOARU
Living room (western style) 居間 いま ima
Living room (Japanese style) 茶の間 ちゃのま chanoma
Sofa, couch ソファ SOFA
Television テレビ TEREBI
Telephone 電話 でん denwa
Cupboard, closet, wardrobe, locker, cabinet  戸棚   だな  todana

Floors: In Japan, like in some other countries as the US for instance, the ground floor is in fact idntified as the 1st floor. Therefore if you are living at the third floor above ground floor in a buidling then you will say you are located at the 4th floor.

アパートはなんかいですか。
さんかいです。
At what floor is your apartment?
It is on the 3rd floor.

Japanese style living room: 茶の間 (chanoma) – means literally the place (間) dedicated to tea (茶). It is generally composed of a low table called 卓袱台 (chabudai) surounded with some floor cushions called 座布団 (zabuton). The whole sits over a set of 畳 (tatami), which are mats made of rice straw. Initially 畳 where quite thin and could be rolled over a wooden floor or directly onto the soil. They then became thicker around the XIIth century as they were used as a sign of superiority (lower rank people being still sitted on the ground), and little by little were used to cover the floor of some rooms, before being commonly used in every houses. At winter you could also find 炬燵 (kotatsu) sitting in the middle of the room which is a table including a 布団 (futon) that covered an hearth into which charcoal was burnt to allow people heating there legs. Nowadays these tables are still widely used and include an electric heating system.

Japanese style room

For the note, the tatami is still used as a mean to indicate the surface of a room – for instance a room of the size of 6 tatamis will have a surface of 六畳 (roku jou).

Bye,

Stéphane

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