Home & Property — B2 Essential Words

mortgage /ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒ/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: A legal agreement to borrow money from a bank to buy a house, paid back over many years; the loan itself.

Example: They took out a thirty-year mortgage.

Another example: Mortgage rates fell this month.

Collocations: a mortgage · mortgage rates · pay the mortgage

Synonyms: home loan, loan, financing

Word family: mortgages (n pl) · mortgage (v) · mortgaged (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: From French for 'death pledge' — it dies when paid (or defaults). Its monthly payment is adulthood's metronome in America.

🗣 In spoken American English: The 2008 crisis taught the world its name and its risks.

Register: Formal — property essential.

lease /liːs/ noun / verb B2 Home

Meaning: A legal agreement that lets you use a property, car, or equipment for a fixed time in exchange for regular payments; to rent in this way.

Example: We signed a two-year lease.

Another example: The office leases its computers.

Collocations: a lease · lease agreement · lease a car

Synonyms: rental agreement, contract, hire (UK, short)

Word family: leases (n pl) · lease (v) · leasing (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Apartments, cars, and offices all lease; its fine print (break clauses, deposits) governs exits. 'A new lease on life' means a fresh start after illness.

🗣 In spoken American English: Reading it fully is adulthood's least popular ritual.

Register: Formal — property essential.

furnished /ˈfɜːrnɪʃt/ adjective B2 Home

Meaning: Containing furniture (a furnished apartment comes with beds, tables, and chairs already in it).

Example: They rented a furnished flat near campus.

Another example: Is the room furnished?

Collocations: a furnished apartment · fully furnished · furnished room

Synonyms: equipped, fitted, ready to live in

Antonyms: unfurnished, empty

Word family: furnish (v) · furnishings (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: Students and expats hunt the word in listings. Its scale runs from a lone bed ('partly furnished') to design-magazine complete.

🗣 In spoken American English: Hotels are its temporary extreme — everything, including the art.

Register: Neutral — property essential.

utilities /juːˈtɪlətiz/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: The services provided to houses — electricity, gas, water, heating, and internet — and their bills.

Example: Rent includes utilities.

Another example: Utilities cost more in winter.

Collocations: utilities included · pay the utilities · utility bills

Synonyms: services, bills, power and water

Word family: utility (n singular) · utilities (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: Listings whisper 'utilities included' like a gift. Its singular 'utility' also means usefulness ('the utility of this tool').

🗣 In spoken American English: Winter heating turns it into the household's biggest negotiation.

Register: Formal — property essential.

deposit /dɪˈpɒzɪt/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: Money paid as a first part of a larger payment, or as security that will be returned if there is no damage (a security deposit); also money put into a bank account.

Example: We paid a deposit on the apartment.

Another example: The bank deposit arrived Friday.

Collocations: a security deposit · pay a deposit · deposit in the bank

Synonyms: down payment (bigger, for buying), security, advance

Antonyms: withdrawal

Word family: deposits (n pl) · deposit (v)

⚠ Common mistake: Renters chase its return at move-out (photograph everything!). Hotels hold it against minibars; banks take it as savings.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its return day is moving day's second ceremony.

Register: Formal — property essential.

property /ˈprɒpərti/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: Land or buildings that someone owns; things owned by a person generally; also a quality or characteristic of something.

Example: They bought property near the lake.

Another example: This bag is my property.

Collocations: property prices · private property · property market

Synonyms: real estate, land, possessions

Word family: properties (n pl) · proprietor (n — owner)

⚠ Common mistake: Real estate agents say 'properties'; scientists say materials have 'properties' (melting points). One word owns houses and physics notes.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'Property ladder' is Britain's phrase; America says 'first home'.

Register: Formal — property essential.

driveway /ˈdraɪvweɪ/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: The short private road or area of hard ground from the street to a house's garage or door, where cars are parked.

Example: Two cars fit in the driveway.

Another example: He shoveled snow off the driveway.

Collocations: the driveway · in the driveway · driveway parking

Synonyms: drive, car pad, approach

Word family: driveways (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: Suburban life's runway: basketball hoops, chalk art, and car washing all live there. Shoveling it is winter's recurring exam.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its sale cousin is the 'driveway deal' — sold without ever reaching a shop.

Register: Neutral — home staple.

ceiling /ˈsiːlɪŋ/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: The inside top surface of a room; also an upper limit on amounts (a price ceiling, the debt ceiling).

Example: The ceiling is painted white.

Another example: The room has a high ceiling.

Collocations: the ceiling · ceiling fan · a price ceiling

Synonyms: roof (outside sense), upper limit, cap

Antonyms: floor

Word family: ceilings (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: Fans hang from it in every warm state. Politics borrows it for limits ('raise the debt ceiling') — the room term governs budgets.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its leak stains map the roof's secrets in brown.

Register: Neutral — home essential.

porch /pɔːrtʃ/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: A covered area at the entrance of a house, often with a roof and open sides, where people sit outside the front door.

Example: We sat on the porch in the evening.

Another example: The porch faces the garden.

Collocations: the front porch · on the porch · porch swing

Synonyms: veranda, stoop (small, city), deck (back, wooden)

Word family: porches (n pl)

⚠ Common mistake: American social life's stage before air conditioning: news, lemonade, and neighbors passed there. Rocking chairs are its thrones.

🗣 In spoken American English: Package thieves earned it a modern villain name ('porch pirates').

Register: Neutral — home essential.

fence /fens/ noun B2 Home

Meaning: A structure of wood, metal, or wire around an area of land (a garden, a yard, a field) to separate or protect it; also the sport of fighting with thin swords.

Example: A white fence surrounds the garden.

Another example: The fence keeps the dog in.

Collocations: a garden fence · the fence · fence posts

Synonyms: barrier, railing, wall (stone/brick)

Word family: fences (n pl) · fencing (n — the sport) · fence (v)

⚠ Common mistake: 'Good fences make good neighbors' is the proverb both sides quote differently. White picket is the dream version in every real-estate photo.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its jumpers in stories are always escaping something.

Register: Neutral — home essential.