Household vocabulary and the language of likes and dislikes
Time to Talk S Units 1 and 2
Find out about your partners likes and dislikes and try to find things in common.
Do the same for home interiors (furniture, colours, shops, etc).
Find out about your partner’s likes and dislikes and make decoration and furnishing recommendations especially for them, e.g. a particular colour, shop, or piece of furniture that they might like. It should be something that they don’t have and/ or have never tried.
| Useful language for asking about likes and dislikes
How do you feel about…? What kind of… do you like?/ What sort of… do you like? Do you like…? What’s your favourite…? Useful language for talking about likes and dislikes (For me), there’s nothing better/ worse than… (For me), you can’t beat… I (absolutely) adore… I (absolutely) detest… I (absolutely) loathe… I (really) hate… I (really) love… I (really) like… I can’t stand… I detest… I don’t like… at all. I don’t like… much. I don’t mind… I don’t really like… I like… very much/ a lot. I really don’t like… I’m a big fan of… I’m not so keen on… I’m really into… I’ve come to love… I’ve gone off… I’ve grown to like… … doesn’t do anything for me. Useful phrases for giving advice If you like…, you will love… I think… would be useful/ suitable/ your kind of thing. In that case, I suggest…/ I think you should…/ my advice is to…/ you could… … go to…/…try…/…study…/…buy… How does that sound? Useful phrases for responding to advice Thanks. That’s a good recommendation. I’ll try that. Really?/ Do you think so? Personally,… I can see why you would say that, but in my case… Actually, I (already)… |
Suggested house and home topics to talk about and recommend
alcove
antique
apartment/ flat
art (painting, sculpture, oil painting, watercolour, etc)
(East/ Southeast) Asian/ Japanese/ Chinese
attic/ loft
balcony
bamboo
basement
bathtub
bedding (pillow, pillowcase, duvet, sheet, bedspread, etc)
bedroom
beige
bin/ trash can
blinds
bold colours/ design
breadmaker
bright
calligraphy
carpenter
carpet
CD player/ stereo
ceiling
cellar
chest
chest of drawers/ drawers
circular
clutter
colourful
contemporary
corridor/ hall
cream/ off-white
cupboard/ wardrobe/ closet
cushion
dark wood (ebony, walnut, teak, etc)
dining room
display cabinet
doormat
entrance hall
exotic
fan
fire/ heater
fitted cupboard
floor
flowery
fluorescent light
French windows
frilly
front door
furnishings
furniture
garage
glass
Habitat
handicrafts (pottery, etc)
handicrafts/ crafts – pottery/ China
hanging scroll
homemade
house
huge/ massive/ enormous
humidifier
interior decorator
Italian/ Milanese
kettle
kitchen table
knob/ handle
lamp
large/ big
lava lamp
leather
LED
dimmer switch
lighting
living room
matt
mattress
medium-sized
metal (steel, aluminium, iron, etc)
microwave (oven)
minimalist
net curtains
neutral
open-plan dining room kitchen
Oriental
ornament
ornate
oval
oven/ oven toaster
paint
patchwork
pattern/ patterned
patterned
pine
plant/ pot plant
plastic
pretty
quaint
quilt
rectangular
recycled
reed matting
renovation
rice cooker
robot vacuum cleaner
rubber
rug/ mat
Scandinavian/ Swedish (e.g. Ikea)
secondhand
shiny
shutters
sliding screens
socket/ (electrical) outlet
souvenirs
spots
square
stripe
table (coffee table, kitchen table, bedside table, heated table, etc)
tap/ faucet
technology (intercom, humidifier, air purifier, air conditioning, fridge, freezer, etc)
three-piece suite (= sofa and two armchairs)
tile
toaster
toilet
traditional folding screen/ traditional chest/ traditional reed matting/ traditional…
triangular
utility room
vase
vinyl
wall
wallpaper
washbasin/ bathroom sink
waxed paper screens
pure white/ bright white
window
wooden flooring
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The language of likes and dislikes language presentation
Without looking above for now, brainstorm language of likes and dislikes into the spaces below, from the most positive top to the most negative at the bottom. Expressions not above are also okay as long as they fit in the spaces below. The same word can often be used more than once in different sentences in different places below. If different sentences have the same level of positive or negative meaning, put them next to each other below.
+ 10
– 10
Look at the previous pages for more expressions that you can put above. Note that some phrases above can’t go anywhere above, so just leave them out.
Use the mixed phrases on the next page to help with the task above. Phrases not below probably don’t fit above.
Use the mixed phrases below to help with the task above.
(For me), there’s nothing better than…
(For me), there’s nothing worse than…
(For me), you can’t beat…
I absolutely adore…
I absolutely detest…
I absolutely loathe…
I adore…
I can’t stand…
I detest…
I don’t like… (very) much.
I don’t like… at all.
I don’t mind…
I don’t really like…
I hate…
I like… at lot.
I loathe…
I love…
I really don’t like…
I really hate…
I really like…
I really love…
I’m a big fan of…
I’m not so keen on…
I’m really into…
… doesn’t do anything for me.
Check your answers as a class or below the fold.
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Suggested answers
Some positions below are debatable, so discuss any different ideas with your teacher.
+10
(For me), you can’t beat…/ I absolutely adore…/ (For me), there’s nothing better than…
I adore…/ I really love…
I love…
I’m a big fan of…/ I like… at lot./ I really like…/ I’m really into…
I don’t mind…
I don’t like… (very) much./ I’m not so keen on…/ I don’t really like…
… doesn’t do anything for me.
I really don’t like…
I hate…
I detest…/ I loathe…/ I really hate…/ I can’t stand…/ I don’t like… at all.
I absolutely detest…/ I absolutely loathe…/ (For me), there’s nothing worse than…
-10
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Positive and negative words connected to house and home presentation
Is the underlined part of each sentence below a good thing (+) or negative thing (-)?
- It is cramped
- It cramps my style
- It doesn’t cramp my style
- I feel like I am finally making the most of my balcony
- I finally cleared out my loft
- I should get rid of it, I don’t know why I’m hanging onto it
- I gave it away to charity
- I can’t live without it
- I could do without it
- If you want to, you should just go for it
- It just clutters up my flat
- It makes up for the lack of space in my flat
Freer speaking practice
Take turns saying (true or imaginary) things about your house or flat and giving advice on how to solve that thing.
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PDF version for easy saving and printing: house and home likes and dislikes
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