LinguaCerco casa: looking for a flat
Cerco casa – “I’m looking for a place to live”. Most people in Italian cities live in an appartamento and pay l’affitto (the rent) every month. The verb is affittare: affitto un appartamento. Flats are counted by rooms: il monolocale, il bilocale, il trilocale. On top of the rent there are often le spese (bills, service charges), and you will want to know about il riscaldamento (heating).
| Word | What it is |
|---|---|
| il monolocale | one room + bathroom (a studio) |
| il bilocale | two rooms + bathroom |
| il trilocale | three rooms + bathroom |
| ammobiliato | furnished |
| luminoso | bright, full of light |
| il riscaldamento | heating |
Cerco un bilocale ammobiliato in centro.I’m looking for a furnished two-room flat in the centre.
Al terzo piano: ordinal numbers
Primo, secondo, terzo are adjectives: they agree like rosso – il primo piano, la prima strada, i primi giorni. They come before the noun. Floors are il piano: abito al terzo piano (a + il = al). The ground floor is il pianterreno or il piano terra. If there is l’ascensore (the lift), good; if not – le scale, the stairs. Where you live in the city: in centro or in periferia (on the outskirts).
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| primo | prima | first (1st) |
| secondo | seconda | second (2nd) |
| terzo | terza | third (3rd) |
| quarto | quarta | fourth (4th) |
| quinto | quinta | fifth (5th) |
| decimo | decima | tenth (10th) |
Abito in un appartamento al secondo piano, in periferia.I live in a flat on the second floor, on the outskirts.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| l'appartamento | flat, apartment | Il nostro appartamento ha tre camere. Our flat has three rooms. |
| l'affitto | rent | L'affitto è di settecento euro al mese. The rent is seven hundred euros a month. |
| affittare | to rent | Ogni estate affittano una casa al mare. Every summer they rent a house by the sea. |
| il monolocale | studio flat (one room) | Il monolocale è piccolo ma economico. The studio is small but cheap. |
| il bilocale | two-room flat | Cerchiamo un bilocale vicino all'università. We are looking for a two-room flat near the university. |
| ammobiliato | furnished | Affitto una camera ammobiliata. I rent out a furnished room. |
| luminoso | bright, full of light | Il soggiorno è molto luminoso: ha tre finestre. The living room is very bright: it has three windows. |
| il piano (della casa) | floor, storey | A che piano abiti? Which floor do you live on? |
| primo | first (1st) | Il bagno è al primo piano. The bathroom is on the first floor. |
| secondo | second (2nd) | Prendi la seconda strada a destra. Take the second street on the right. |
| terzo | third (3rd) | Mia sorella abita al terzo piano. My sister lives on the third floor. |
| l'ascensore | lift, elevator | L'ascensore non funziona, prendiamo le scale. The lift isn’t working, let’s take the stairs. |
| la periferia | outskirts, suburbs | In periferia l'affitto costa meno. On the outskirts the rent costs less. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
You live alone and want just one room with a bathroom. What do you look for?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.