Small ads vocabulary - accommodation 77

Background

Small ads are short advertisements which are found in local and national newspapers, and sometimes on notice boards in shops, colleges etc. In newspaper and magazine adverts, each word and/or letter has to be paid for, so to make them cheaper, people often use short forms and abbreviations, and some non-essential words are not used.

This worksheet will focus on the language used to advertise accommodation.

People

Advertisers often state what type of person they are looking for. They generally do this by using adjectives, such as clean, quiet, etc. but nouns and compound nouns may be used too.

professional / prof.
(adj/n)somebody who has a job.

Examples:
....Rooms available:professional / prof. (adj/n)somebody who has a job.
Examples:
.....Rooms available: professionals only.
....Prof. male required for shared house.

1- having the type of job that is respected because it involves a high level of education and training:

....Room for rent in shared house - would suit professional person.
.....a bar full of young professional types in suits


mature
(adj)this word is used to describe an older, quieter, more responsible person. [matang]

Example:
....Mature lady wanted for single room.
....a mature adults
...exually mature
....Mature male gorillas have silver-grey hairs on their backs.
....mature oak trees

easy-going
(adj) friendly and relaxed.

Example:
....Easy-going guy wanted for student house.

n/s (adj/n)
non-smoker

Example: n/s prof. lady wanted for single room

landlord / landlady (n)
The person who owns the accommodation. A landlord is male, a landlady is female.

.....The landlord had promised to redecorate the bedrooms before we moved in.
.....Housing associations are the biggest landlords in this area.


tenant (n) [penyewa]
The person who pays rent to live in the accommodation.


lodger (n)
A person who lives with his / her landlord. (US ALSO roomer]

....She takes in lodgers to make a bit of extra money.

mixed
(adj) This means that both men and women are living in the accommodation.


Types of accommodation

flatshare / houseshare (n)
This refers to the situation of sharing a house or flat with people who are not your family.

Example:
.....Alice says: 'bright, sunny room in mixed flatshare.'


bedsit (n
)A type of accommodation where you live and sleep in the same room.
The bathroom and kitchen may be shared with other people who live in the same building.

Example:
.....Bedsit to let: suit student or young professional.
....He lives in a tiny student bedsit.
ALSO bedsitter, FORMAL bed-sitting room)

self-contained (adj)
Self-contained accommodation means that the kitchen, bathroom and other rooms are not shared with anyone else, and the accommodation has its own door which is not used by anyone else.

Example:
.... Self-contained single flat to let.



studio flat /apartment (n)
A flat or apartment which does not have a separate bedroom and/or kitchen, but it has its own bathroom.

Example: Clean, quiet studio flat. Reasonable rent.


(fully) furnished / part furnished / unfurnished (adj)
Advertisers often say how much furniture is provided.

fully furnished = all the necessary furniture is provided.
part furnished = some of the necessary furniture is provided: the tenant might have to buy some additional furniture.
unfurnished = no furniture is provided.


single room / double room
A single room is suitable for one person; a double room is suitable for two people.
Example: Single room avail. end March.

bed
Bedroom.
Example: 3 bed flat avail. Dec. Reasonable rent


all mod cons - kelengkapan moden-
'mod cons' means 'modern conveniences' – things like a telephone, washing machine, dishwasher etc.

Example:2 bed flat avail. Dec. Reasonable rent.
....The kitchen of this delightful cottage is fully equipped with all mod cons including a dishwasher.


close to all amenities
amenities are shops and services that people like to have close to their houses – such as schools, banks, doctors, stations etc. - kemudahan - keselesaan]

Example:....3 bed house avail. Dec. suit family. 5 mins from schools & amenities.
......The council has some spare cash which it proposes to spend on public amenities.
....The 200-year-old jail is overcrowded, understaffed and lacking in basic amenities.

Money

reasonable rent:
not too expensive: [berpatutan]
Advertisers do not always write the exact cost of the accommodation in the advertisement. 'Reasonable' usually means that the rent is not too expensive, or that it is the same as the rent for other similar accommodation in the same area.

.....Tomatoes are very reasonable at this time of year.


negotiable / negot.
This means that the landlord is willing to talk about the rent and agree on a price that is acceptable to both the landlord and the tenant.

.....Everything is negotiable at this stage - I'm ruling nothing out.


pcm
per calendar month. Sometimes rent has to be paid every 4 weeks, but pcm means that the rent is payable on the same date each month, often the 1st.

Example: Bedsit to let. £500 pcm.

incl.
Inclusive – the rent includes the cost of gas, electricity etc.

Example: Wanted: young prof. for studio flat. Rent £200 pcm incl.

1 - An inclusive price or amount includes everything:
......My rent is $700 a month inclusive (of bills).

2- [after noun] including the first and last date or number stated:
......I'll be away from the 20th to the 31st of May inclusive.


all-inclusive
adjective - including everything:

....a seven-night all-inclusive package
....an all-inclusive resort


deposit / dep.
(n) This is an amount of money which the tenant pays to the landlord / landlady when s/he moves in to the accommodation. The landlord / landlady gives the money back to the tenant when s/he moves out.

Example:3-bed flat avail. end Dec / beg. Jan. £500 pcm + £500 dep.

deposit
noun [C]
1- a payment:
.....To open an account, you need to make a minimum deposit of $500.

2- a sum of money which is given in advance as part of a total payment for something:

.....The shop assistant says if I leave £10 as a deposit, they'll keep the dress for me.
......We paid/put a deposit of £10 000 on the house, and paid the balance four weeks later.

3- a sum of money which you pay when you rent something, and which is returned to you when you return the thing you have rented:

....It costs £1000 a week to hire the yacht, plus a £120 refundable/returnable deposit.
....You pay a 10p deposit/deposit of 10p on the bottle, which you get back when you return the empty bottle.

Other words and abbreviations

avail.
Available

.....Do you have any double rooms available this weekend?

end
At the end of

beg.
At the beginning of

to let
Available for rent

They are letting their house (out) for the summer.
He's let his flat to a young couple.
She has a room to let in her house.

let - noun [C] UK
the act of allowing someone to use your house, land, etc. in exchange for regular payments:

....a five-year let on a flat

letting
noun [C] UK

......The town offers several holiday lettings (= buildings that can be rented).

suit
Suitable for (a particular type of person)
Example:To let: 2 bed flat. avail. beg. Jan. Suit n/s prof.


Vocabulary:

from the top
repeat from the beginning -puncak-bahagian atas-permukaan[meja]-

noun [C]
1- the highest place or part:

.....She waited for me at the top of the stairs.
....There were flags on the tops of many of the buildings.
....There was a pile of books on top of (= on) the table.

Compare bottom (LOWEST PART); summit (HIGHEST POINT).
NOTE: The opposite is bottom.

2- the flat upper surface of something:

....The top of the table/desk was badly scratched. [permukaan]

mixed
both men and women are living in the same house [campur]

....Our children go to a mixed school.
.....Some of his jokes were too rude for mixed company (= a group where both males and females are present).
.....a mixed marriage/relationship [campur-kacukan]
....people of mixed race


allergy
an unusual sensitiveness of the body which causes certain people to be affected in a bad way by something usually harmless - sensetif -alahan
allergy noun [C]
a condition that makes a person become ill or develop skin or breathing problems because they have eaten certain foods or come in contact with certain substances:

....an allergy to wheat
.....a wheat allergy


small ads
short advertisements which are found in local and national newspapers, or on notice boards in shops, colleges etc.

go with
choose, decide
go with sb/sth (AGREE) phrasal verb INFORMAL
to accept an idea or agree with a person:

......I think we can go with the advertising agency's suggestions, don't you?