Practice
Home or house: what's the difference?
Sign in to saveThe house has a red door, but home is where we eat dinner and rest. The two words are related, yet they do different jobs in a sentence.
Choose home or house when you mean a building, the place where someone lives, or the direction of a journey.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
I left my phone at home. /aɪ left maɪ fəʊn at həʊm/
The short answer
A house is a building for people to live in. Home is the place where a person lives, and it can also mean a feeling of belonging. We usually say go home, not go to home.
They bought a house near the river.
Why it works: House names the physical building they bought.
4 more examples
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I left my phone at home.
At home tells us where the phone is: at the speaker's usual place of living.
Not this:I left my phone
in the house. What changes: In the house points to the building or its rooms. -
We went home after the concert.
Home is the destination, so it follows went without to.
Not this:We went
to the houseafter the concert. What changes: Use to before a noun phrase such as the house. -
The house has three bedrooms.
Bedrooms are features of the building, so house is the natural word.
Not this:
Our homehas room for guests. What changes: Home presents the place as where the speakers live and welcome people. -
After a year abroad, this town feels like home.
Home can name a feeling of comfort and belonging.
Not this:The
old housefeels cold in winter. What changes: House refers to the building and its physical condition.
Read the full guide
First, decide whether you are describing walls, rooms, or a building. Choose house for that meaning. When the sentence is about a person's usual place to live, choose home. Then check the phrase, because English uses home without to after go, come, arrive, and get.
Start with the building or the place to live
Ask what the sentence is naming. Use house for the building. Use home for the place where a person lives. A home may be a house, but the words do not always mean the same thing.
The house has a red door.
The sentence describes part of a building, so house fits.
Choose the word for the place where you live: home or house?
Choose home when you mean the place where you live.
Use house for a building
Use house when you talk about the building itself. You can describe its size, color, rooms, roof, or address. House is countable, so it works with a, the, this, and numbers.
There are two houses on this street.
Two houses means two separate buildings.
The house on the corner needs a new roof.
A roof is part of a building, so house is the right word.
Use home for the place where someone lives
Use home when the important idea is living somewhere. The home may be a house, an apartment, or another kind of accommodation. This word often makes the sentence more personal because it connects the place to the people who live there.
My sister is at home with the children.
At home means at her usual place of living.
Which word fits an apartment where a family lives: home or house?
Choose home. An apartment can be a family's home, even though it is not a house.
Say go home without to
After go, come, get, arrive, and return, home often works as a destination word. In these phrases, do not put to before home. Use to with a noun phrase such as the house, my apartment, or the station.
Please come home before ten.
Home follows come directly in this common phrase.
Please come to the house before ten.
The house is a noun phrase, so it needs to after come.
Use home for belonging and familiar places
Home can express more than an address. It can describe a place that feels familiar, safe, or connected to a person. This meaning explains phrases such as make yourself at home and feel at home.
The café is a home for local musicians.
Home means a welcoming place for that group, not a building where they sleep.
What does home mean in This town feels like home?
It means the town feels familiar and welcoming to the speaker.
Check the meaning before you choose
Before you choose, look for the main idea. Details about rooms, walls, repairs, or a building point to house. Ideas about living, returning, family life, or belonging usually point to home.
The house needs new windows.
Windows are a physical feature of the building.
I called home after my flight landed.
Home means the people and place connected to the speaker's daily life.
Before you go
Remember this
Choose house for a building and its physical features. Choose home for the place where someone lives or feels they belong. Use at home for location and go home for a destination without to.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Home or house: what's the difference?"
What is the difference between home and house?
A house is a building for people to live in. Home means the place where someone lives and may also include a feeling of belonging. They bought a house near the river focuses on the building, while their new home focuses on where they live.
They bought a house near the river.
Can an apartment be called a home?
Yes. Home means a person's place of living, so it can be an apartment, a room, a house, or another place. In I left my phone at home, home identifies the speaker's usual place rather than a particular type of building.
Their new home is near the river.
Do I say go home or go to home?
Say go home. After go, come, get, arrive, and return, home commonly works as a destination without to. We went home after the concert is natural. Use to before a noun phrase, as in We went to the house after the concert.
I left my phone at home.
When should I use house instead of home?
Use house when the sentence is about a physical building or its parts. The house has three bedrooms is about rooms in the building. Use home when the sentence is mainly about living somewhere, family life, or belonging.
I left my phone in the house.
Can home describe a feeling?
Yes. Home can describe a place that feels familiar, comfortable, or connected to a person. After a year abroad, this town feels like home means the town gives the speaker a sense of belonging, not that the town is literally a house.
We went home after the concert.