Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Want to learn useful English vocabulary and phrases for everyday home activities? In this lesson, you’ll learn simple words and phrases to talk about chores and errands. Don’t worry if you don’t know those words yet! I’ll explain what it means to “run an errand”, and help you understand the difference between “housework” and “homework”. You’ll also learn whether to use “do” or “make” with things like laundry, dishes, cooking, and beds. This class is great for beginner English learners who want to speak more confidently about their daily routines. engvid.com/english-vocabulary-housework-dishes-errands-laundry
More of my vocabulary videos:
English Vocabulary Builder: HOUSING (American & British English) youtu.be/D-O6hcq9aIA
English vocabulary & expressions for RELAXING youtu.be/8ZydJ_nznXA
In this lesson:
0:00 English for Housework
0:33 "homework" or "housework"?
2:09 what verb to use with "housework" and "homework"
3:08 What are "errands"?
5:06 "a cook", "to cook", "cooker"?
6:39 housework activities and their verbs
Transcript:
Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video we are going to talk about different English words related to housework. Housework is a very important word in English because all of us in some way do housework. So today I'm going to explain what housework is, I'm going to talk about what homework is, because these words are often confused, and we're going to talk about some common words and expressions related to housework.
So to get started, let's do a comparison. I have here two words, "homework", "housework". For many students or learners of English, they confuse these words, but these words have very different meanings. "Homework" is schoolwork that you do at home. So usually with homework, your teacher will give you homework. So the teacher will tell you, "Do this math problem at home." So that's an example of homework. When I was a child, I hated getting homework.
Now this is very different from the word "housework". "Housework" actually has to do with cleaning our house. So there's a lot of different words that are associated with housework. So for example, "doing the dishes" is a type of housework. "Doing the laundry" is housework. "Vacuuming the floors" is housework. "Dusting" is housework. So you get my meaning. "Housework" is the umbrella term that covers all these different tasks we do when we clean our house. Every Sunday, I do housework, and I know a lot of you probably do housework on the weekends as well. So "housework" is another way to say "clean the house".
Okay, so what verb goes with "housework"? And what verb goes with "homework"? I have here underlined the word "do". I do my homework. Similarly, we use the verb "do" with "housework". I do my housework. Every Sunday, I do housework. My mom does housework every day. My father helps my mom with the housework. So, again, the verb you want to use with "housework" is not "make", it's not "practice", it's the verb "do".
So now let's look at some examples of housework and some very common words we use when talking about housework. Okay, so we've been talking about housework, and again, those are the different types of activities you do inside the house to clean your house. For a moment, I just wanted to talk about another very important word that is related, but has a bit of a different meaning, and that is the word "errand".
So in English, we often talk about errands. What are errands? Errands are small tasks or jobs we do outside of the house to help us in our daily life. So I'll give you some examples. If you go to the bank to pay some bills, that's an example of an errand. If you go to the gas station and get gas for your car, that's an errand. If you go to the dry cleaners and get your laundry done at the dry cleaners, that's an errand. Maybe you ripped your pants and you needed somebody to sew it for you, so, you know, you go to a tailor. That's an example of an errand. Some types of shopping. The shopping you do that's not fun, that's an example of an errand. So maybe grocery shopping, or if you have to go to a hardware store to buy something for the house, those are all examples of errands. So we use this a lot in English. When you ask somebody, "Oh, what are you doing today?" you might hear the response, "I'm running errands." So the errand is the task or the job you're doing, and the verb that goes with this is the verb "run". I run errands. So I told you, usually on Sundays I do housework. On Sundays I also run errands. That's the day I go to the bank, that's the day I do things outside the house to prepare my house or to prepare myself for the week ahead.
So another thing I wanted to talk about is a mistake I hear a lot of students making. So this has to do with housework. A lot of the times, one thing we do in the home is we cook.
Want to learn useful English vocabulary and phrases for everyday home activities? In this lesson, you’ll learn simple words and phrases to talk about chores and errands. Don’t worry if you don’t know those words yet! I’ll explain what it means to “run an errand”, and help you understand the difference between “housework” and “homework”. You’ll also learn whether to use “do” or “make” with things like laundry, dishes, cooking, and beds. This class is great for beginner English learners who want to speak more confidently about their daily routines. engvid.com/english-vocabulary-housework-dishes-errands-laundry
More of my vocabulary videos:
English Vocabulary Builder: HOUSING (American & British English) youtu.be/D-O6hcq9aIA
English vocabulary & expressions for RELAXING youtu.be/8ZydJ_nznXA
In this lesson:
0:00 English for Housework
0:33 "homework" or "housework"?
2:09 what verb to use with "housework" and "homework"
3:08 What are "errands"?
5:06 "a cook", "to cook", "cooker"?
6:39 housework activities and their verbs
Transcript:
Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video we are going to talk about different English words related to housework. Housework is a very important word in English because all of us in some way do housework. So today I'm going to explain what housework is, I'm going to talk about what homework is, because these words are often confused, and we're going to talk about some common words and expressions related to housework.
So to get started, let's do a comparison. I have here two words, "homework", "housework". For many students or learners of English, they confuse these words, but these words have very different meanings. "Homework" is schoolwork that you do at home. So usually with homework, your teacher will give you homework. So the teacher will tell you, "Do this math problem at home." So that's an example of homework. When I was a child, I hated getting homework.
Now this is very different from the word "housework". "Housework" actually has to do with cleaning our house. So there's a lot of different words that are associated with housework. So for example, "doing the dishes" is a type of housework. "Doing the laundry" is housework. "Vacuuming the floors" is housework. "Dusting" is housework. So you get my meaning. "Housework" is the umbrella term that covers all these different tasks we do when we clean our house. Every Sunday, I do housework, and I know a lot of you probably do housework on the weekends as well. So "housework" is another way to say "clean the house".
Okay, so what verb goes with "housework"? And what verb goes with "homework"? I have here underlined the word "do". I do my homework. Similarly, we use the verb "do" with "housework". I do my housework. Every Sunday, I do housework. My mom does housework every day. My father helps my mom with the housework. So, again, the verb you want to use with "housework" is not "make", it's not "practice", it's the verb "do".
So now let's look at some examples of housework and some very common words we use when talking about housework. Okay, so we've been talking about housework, and again, those are the different types of activities you do inside the house to clean your house. For a moment, I just wanted to talk about another very important word that is related, but has a bit of a different meaning, and that is the word "errand".
So in English, we often talk about errands. What are errands? Errands are small tasks or jobs we do outside of the house to help us in our daily life. So I'll give you some examples. If you go to the bank to pay some bills, that's an example of an errand. If you go to the gas station and get gas for your car, that's an errand. If you go to the dry cleaners and get your laundry done at the dry cleaners, that's an errand. Maybe you ripped your pants and you needed somebody to sew it for you, so, you know, you go to a tailor. That's an example of an errand. Some types of shopping. The shopping you do that's not fun, that's an example of an errand. So maybe grocery shopping, or if you have to go to a hardware store to buy something for the house, those are all examples of errands. So we use this a lot in English. When you ask somebody, "Oh, what are you doing today?" you might hear the response, "I'm running errands." So the errand is the task or the job you're doing, and the verb that goes with this is the verb "run". I run errands. So I told you, usually on Sundays I do housework. On Sundays I also run errands. That's the day I go to the bank, that's the day I do things outside the house to prepare my house or to prepare myself for the week ahead.
So another thing I wanted to talk about is a mistake I hear a lot of students making. So this has to do with housework. A lot of the times, one thing we do in the home is we cook.
