Level 3 · Lesson 18

我的家
My home

我家有四个房间。厨房在客厅旁边。

Describe a whole home: list the rooms with 有, place them with 在, and say which floor.

听 · Listen

你家大不大？
 安娜 —  李明，你家大不大？ 
Li Ming, is your home big?  
 李明 —  不大。我家有四个房间。 
Not big. My home has four rooms.  
 安娜 —  有几间卧室？ 
How many bedrooms?  
 李明 —  一间卧室、一个客厅、一间厨房和一个洗手间。 
One bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom.  
 安娜 —  厨房在哪儿？ 
Where's the kitchen?  
 李明 —  厨房在客厅旁边，卧室在楼上。 
The kitchen is next to the living room, and the bedroom is upstairs.  
 安娜 —  你家在几楼？ 
Which floor is your home on?  
 李明 —  在三楼。你家呢？ 
On the third floor. And yours?  

讲解 · Explanation

我家有四个房间。

A description of a home starts with 有: the place first, then what is inside it. Count rooms with 个 when you mean 'rooms' in general — 四个房间 — and with 间 when you name them: 一间卧室, 一间厨房. 间 is the measure word for a room, and it is the word for an enclosed space too, which is why it ends 洗手间 and sits inside 中间.

厨房在客厅旁边，卧室在楼上。

Once the rooms are listed with 有, arrange them with 在 and the direction words of the last two lessons. 楼 is a floor of a building — 三楼 the third floor, 楼上 upstairs, 楼下 downstairs — and it also names the building itself. Ask which floor with 几楼, because a building has only a small number of them: 你家在几楼？

我家很大。我的房间很小。

Say 我家, not 我的家. 家 belongs to the small set of close words — 家, 妈妈, 学校 — that drop 的 after a pronoun, while ordinary possessions keep it: 我的房间, 我的电脑, 我的书. And when an adjective is the whole predicate it needs 很 in front of it: 我家很大, never 我家大 standing alone.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
厨房	kitchen	一间厨房 yì jiān chúfáng
卧室	bedroom	一间卧室 yì jiān wòshì
客厅	living room	literally guest hall
洗手间	bathroom, toilet	literally wash-hands room; the polite word to ask for
楼	floor, storey; building	三楼 third floor, 楼上 upstairs, 楼下 downstairs
间	measure word for rooms	一间卧室 yì jiān wòshì, 一间教室 yì jiān jiàoshì

练习 · Practice

我家 ______ 四个房间。 The place comes first and you are saying what it contains.

你家在 ______ 楼？ Asking which floor someone lives on.

我家有一 ______ 卧室和一 ______ 厨房。 Fill in the measure word for rooms (the same one twice).

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'The kitchen is next to the living room.'

厨房、卧室、客厅、洗手间、楼 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我家有几个房间？厨房在哪儿？

Give someone a tour of your home out loud, in four sentences. Open with the count — 我家有三个房间 — then name the rooms with 间: 一间卧室，一间厨房。Place two of them against each other with 在: 洗手间在卧室旁边。Finish with the floor: 我家在二楼 (èr lóu). Then ask a friend the same four questions and listen for their 有 and 在.