House vocabulary earns its place fast if you are living in India, because you will use it with landlords, plumbers, electricians and delivery staff — exactly the conversations where English is least likely to help. A few of these words also behave differently from their English equivalents, and knowing which ones saves confusion.
The House and Its Rooms
छत means both roof and ceiling, and in Indian homes the roof is a genuine living space — people dry clothes, sleep in summer, fly kites and hold parties up there. छत पर चलें? is a real invitation. घर carries the warmth of ‘home’; the neutral word for a building is मकान (makaan), which is what you rent.
Furniture
पंखा is not optional furniture in India — a ceiling fan is in every room of almost every home, and ‘the fan is not working’ is a sentence you will need. अलमारी comes from Portuguese via Goa, one of many Portuguese words in Hindi alongside चाबी (key) and बाल्टी (bucket).
Indian homes also differ from western ones in ways the vocabulary reveals. Many bathrooms have a bucket and mug rather than a shower, so बाल्टी and मग are everyday words. Water is often stored in an overhead टंकी (tanki) because municipal supply runs only at certain hours. And इन्वर्टर — a battery backup for power cuts — is standard equipment in most North Indian households rather than a luxury item.
Household Things and Problems
खराब is the workhorse word for anything not functioning — appliances, food gone bad, a bad situation, even a person’s character. बिजली गई means the power has gone, an extremely common sentence, and बिजली आ गई means it is back.
If you need repairs, the tradesmen have specific names and you will call them directly rather than through a building manager. A प्लम्बर handles water, an इलेक्ट्रीशियन handles wiring, and a कारीगर (kaarigar) is a general skilled workman. The useful sentence is कब आ सकते हैं? — when can you come — followed, realistically, by asking again the next day.
One cultural note that affects daily life: most middle-class Indian households employ domestic help, and the relationship has its own vocabulary. A कामवाली or बाई comes daily to sweep, mop and wash dishes, often for an hour. This is so normalised that landlords will mention it unprompted when showing a flat. As an employer you are expected to be punctual with pay and generous at Diwali.
Renting and Landlords
Indian rental conversations usually separate rent from बिजली-पानी (utilities) and मेंटेनेंस (maintenance). Ask किराया के अलावा क्या देना होगा? — what is payable besides rent — or you will be surprised later.
Pronunciation Tips
घर opens with an aspirated voiced gh, which does not exist in English — it is a g with breath pushed through it, not ‘g-h’ as two sounds. खिड़की has both the raspy ख and the flapped ड़. मेज़ ends in z. कुर्सी has a half-r that glides straight into the s. दरवाज़ा is four beats, evenly stressed, ending in z.
Common Mistakes
- Using घर and मकान interchangeably. घर is home, मकान is the physical building you rent.
- Saying ‘g-har’ for घर instead of a single aspirated gh.
- Forgetting कुर्सी and मेज़ are feminine, which changes the adjective.
- Asking only about rent and not about maintenance and utilities.
- Pronouncing मेज़ as ‘mej’. The nukta makes it z.
Practice Exercises
- Name every object in the room you are sitting in.
- Report three problems to an imaginary landlord using खराब and नहीं आ रहा.
- Ask about rent, deposit and utilities in one conversation.
- Describe your home in five Hindi sentences.
- Practise घर until the aspirated gh is one sound, not two.