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Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine. Today we’ve got an intermediate level lesson for you. If you’re interested in buying furniture for your house, you should like this lesson.

Exactly. We are going to talk about a ton of different furniture items that you can get to decorate your house to make it all nice.

So, we’re gonna talk about a lot of vocabulary today. Pay attention while listening to some of the pieces of furniture that we talk about. We’ll be back in a moment to talk more about them.

A: How about this floor lamp?

B: Fine just get it! We have been shopping for furniture for five hours! I’m so tired!

A: We still need to find an armoire and a dresser.

B: Fine! I am going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat while you look for the rest of the things.

A: Great! Pick me up in about an hour because I think I’ll also get a bean bag and a dining set.

B: While you are at it can you pick out a nice recliner? I really want one so I can watch TV.

A: Recliner? In my beautifully decorated living room? I don’t think so!

All right, we’re back. So, now what we’re going to do is since we have so much of vocab, we’re gonna take a look at this language in two parts. So now, let’s go to language take away part one.

Language take away

Okay, so everyone’s heard of a lamp, a light. This is something that you use to, to read in the dark, for example, to see in the dark. But in this case, we have a floor lamp, floor lamp. So, this is a lamp you put on the floor.

Yes, exactly. So usually, this lamp would be a lot taller. It’ll maybe be a meter taller, a meter and a half maybe.

Okay. So, for example in your living room next to your sofa, you might have a very tall floor lamp. This allows you to get more light in the room.

Right. So, sometimes you know the center light in your living room is not enough, you want maybe more light in the corners, you get a little floor lamp. Okay, so that’s the first item. Now that we go to the bedroom, we are getting an armoire.

Okay, an armoire. This is kind of like a wardrobe. It’s a piece of furniture we use to keep cloth in, but usually there hanging clothes.

Okay, so a closet is usually inside a wall, right?

Right. So, a closet, it’s a part of your house. It’s not furniture.

Right. So, an armoire is the same as a closet, but it’s not in the house like in the wall. So, it’s outside. It’s a piece of furniture. It’s a big box.

Yeah. I could pick it up and move it.

okay

yes. So, an armoire is a tall place to keep clothing. Usually, you hang your clothes, you hang your shirts and your dresses and coats.

And moving on, we have a dresser. Now, this seems pretty straightforward. To get dressed, you have a dresser.

Yeah. They make a lot of sense but there is a big difference here between an armoire and a dresser. A dresser is usually drawers. So, you keep your sweaters, your shirts, your socks, your underwear in a dresser.

Okay. So, an armoire as you said, usually you hang your shirts or your pants. It’s for hanging stuff only. A dresser is you have different drawers where you can put your socks, your boxer shorts and any other things that you keep.

Exactly.

Okay, very good. So, two very handy words and that’s what makes the difference between a closet. So, many people say, It’s just a closet. Closet is different.

No, closet is actually part of your house. It’s a part of the wall. Maybe it has a door and yeah, there’s a big difference there.

Okay. So, moving on, we have a nightstand that’s also usually in the bedroom.

That’s right. So, I always wondered why is it called a nightstand and not a day stand. Well, a nightstand, it makes sense, usually has a lamp on it, a light on it. And so, when you’re in bed and you want to read, you have a nightstand next to you to put your lamps so you can turn the lamp on. Usually, I also keep my books here. So, when I’m reading, I put my book stand down and I go to sleep. Some people also keep their glasses and their alarm clock on a nightstand.

Okay

It’s a small table that stands next to your bed.

Very good. And our last word for language take away part one, we have a coffee table. Okay, so with the coffee table, Marco we’re moving back into the living room and in the living room, you have a sofa, you have some chairs. You need a table. You don’t want a big table. You want on a small table or a very short table. This is a coffee table.

It’s called a coffee table. I’m not really sure why. I guess because if you’re having coffee in the living room, this is where you put the coffee.

That’s right. And we even have something called coffee table books. These are big beautiful books, hardback books that have many pictures that you put on your coffee table to look nice.

It’s not for you, actually to read all the time.

Well, I read them, but it’s more important to look, to use these books to look nice.

Yes. And this is interesting though, because in many other countries, they’re not really call the coffee table. So, the direct translation would really help you in many cases. Like I know, I think in Chinese, it’s called the tea table, not a coffee table.

That makes sense.

Right? Or like, I know in Spanish it’s called the center table.

Okay. So, this is basically the low table you have in your living room next to your sofa, in front of yourself actually, so you can you can have tea or coffee and read books

or put your feet up or while you’re watching TV.

Not in my house when I was a kid.

All right. So now, why don’t we go back and listen to the dialogue again and we’ll be return in a little bit with more vocab.

A: How about this floor lamp?

B: Fine just get it! We have been shopping for furniture for five hours! I’m so tired!

A: We still need to find an armoire and a dresser.

B: Fine! I am going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat while you look for the rest of the things.

A: Great! Pick me up in about an hour because I think I’ll also get a bean bag and a dining set.

B: While you are at it can you pick out a nice recliner? I really want one so I can watch TV.

A: Recliner? In my beautifully decorated living room? I don’t think so!

All right, we’re back. So now, let’s take a look at language take away part two.

Language take away

Coming up we have one of my favorite phrases in the English language. I don’t know why like it so much but it is a great name for a piece of furniture.

a loveseat

loveseat

okay

okay

It sounds very romantic

It does. Well, think about a sofa. A sofa could be very large. You could have four or five people on a sofa

right

but a love seat is a small sofa for two people.

Okay so that’s what makes the difference, right? It’s a sofa, but only two people can sit on this.

That’s right. So, if it’s a big sofa, it’s not a loveseat.

A what about if it’s one, because usually in sofa sets you have a loveseat, a big one, and you have one, sometimes an individual one. Do you just call that a chair?

Yeah, a chair.

A chair, okay.

Exactly. We’ll come to it in a minute. There’s a special kind of tear that it might be, but we’re not quite there yet. First, we have another kind of chair which is very special and that reminds me a lot of the 1970s.

Right. We have a beanbag and this is actually a piece of furniture that’s still very popular in many places. And it’s called a beanbag because it’s a huge bag that is filled with beans.

Right, beans or something soft. And when you sit on it, it looks like a ball but when you sit on it, it can change shape.

Right. It molds to how, what shape you are.

And usually they’re very light. And a lot of times, I hate to say it, a lot of times, bachelors apartments have these.

That’s right. It’s actually very cheap piece of furniture and is comfortable. Sometimes if you’re watching TV, you can just sit on your beanbag and watch TV. Even I know some people may, you know, fall asleep on a beanbag as guests.

I’ve never slept, well maybe once. But I do remember sleeping on a beanbag. I imagine it’s quite uncomfortable.

Yeah, it hurts your back. But moving on, after a beanbag which is a good informal piece of furniture, we have a dining set which is a lot nicer.

Okay, dining set. All right, so a dining set has many pieces. You have a dining room table

right

you have chairs. So, a set is basically a collection of a table and chairs together.

Sometimes I think it will also includes some type of piece of furniture that’s next to the dining table where you can keep your plates and you can keep your teacups and all that. What’s that called?

That’s called a buffet and that’s basically, it’s like a dresser for your dining room.

Right, exactly.

It’s got like drawers and stuff for your plates, your cups, like you said and it’s next to the dining room table. But the dining room set, or the dining set is for the dining room. It’s the table where you eat dinner.

Okay, very good. And now moving on to that special chair that I am a big fan of, it’s very comfortable sit on and it’s called a recliner

recliner, so we have a word here recline. It means to lye back, to put your head back, to get comfortable. So, a recliner is a chair that you can, you can change the shape of to make you lie down, flat. So, you know when you sit down, you’re sitting, but what if you want to lie down in a chair. This chair lets you do that

And it also from the bottom part where your feet are, a little thing pops up so you can rest your feet on top of this little extension of the of the chair.

Okay, so it has a built-in foot rest

foot rest, exactly. so, it’s very comfortable, it’s a very popular. If you ever watch the series friends, they have the other recliners. It’s very comfortable to watch sports. For example, you have your beear

Joey has his recliner. Remember when Joey and Chandler lived together, they have the two recliners in front of the TV? Those chairs are recliners and they’re very, very popular.

Actually there, I think in the United States, there are very commonly known by the brand of La-Z-Boy.

That’s right. There’s a brand. It’s not a kind of furniture, but it’s the name of the brand. It’s La-Z-Boy and they’re very famous, you’re right, Marco, for their reclining chairs.

Exactly. so, La-Z-Boy is you may hear it, but the real word for it is called a recliner. So, a lot of interesting pieces of furniture there. I think our house is going to look amazing. So, why don’t we go back and listen to the dialogue one last time.

A: How about this floor lamp?

B: Fine just get it! We have been shopping for furniture for five hours! I’m so tired!

A: We still need to find an armoire and a dresser.

B: Fine! I am going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat while you look for the rest of the things.

A: Great! Pick me up in about an hour because I think I’ll also get a bean bag and a dining set.

B: While you are at it can you pick out a nice recliner? I really want one so I can watch TV.

A: Recliner? In my beautifully decorated living room? I don’t think so!

All right, we’re back. So, talking about furniture, it’s very interesting how do you take it home? What do you do? And in this case, they were transporting it themselves and the guy said I’m going to go home and drop off this nightstand coffee table and loveseat. So, to drop off

Okay, this is a great verb, to drop off. It’s a verbal phrase, so the preposition there is off, not on

right

so, I can say for example Marco, I’m just going to drop off my bag at home and then I’ll meet you guys for dinner. That means I’m going to go to my house and put down my bag and then I’ll leave. So, to drop off is basically to go somewhere so you can put something in that place. But it doesn’t mean that you’re going to go to that place and say there.

Right. So, if I say I’m going to drop off the kids at school, that means are going to take the kids and leave them at school and then go away.

It doesn’t mean you’re going to school yourself.

Right, exactly.

So, can you drop off the laundry at the drycleaners, please?

Very good. So, I’m gonna take the laundry to the dry cleaners, leave it there and then go somewhere else.

So, what happens at 3 o’clock when the kids are still at school.

That’s right. Now, we use the opposite verbal phrase and that is to pick up.

Okay, drop off, pick up.

So, you go pick up the kids. You go pick up the laundry.

So, this isn’t just about picking something up from a table or the ground, you can actually use your car to pick something up.

Right. You go and retrieve it.

So, I’m going to the post office to pick up my package.

Very good. So, phrases that you’re going to have to use if you’re talking about furniture, if you’re talking about buying something. And while we’re on the topic, I know that one of the most popular places to buy furniture is IKEA. Are you a big fan of IKEA?

I like IKEA and I love what they’ve done for people who don’t want to spend too much money on furniture.

Furniture is expensive.

Furniture is very expensive. You can spend $5000 on a sofa. And so, IKEA is a wonderful Brand and I think a wonderful company because it makes good looking furniture affordable.

And it’s because you put it together yourself, right?

That’s right. A lot of things you have to assemble or put together by yourself. So, you buy it in a box and then you make it.

Yeah

And it’s a little bit frustrating sometimes but for people like me, and I’m sure people like you, it’s part of the fun is putting stuff together.

Yeah, because you kind of feel like you kind of built it but you really didn’t. so, it kind of gives you a false sense of accomplishment.

It’s like I’m in the 19th century. I can make my own furniture.

So, it’s very popular. I’ve actually and apart from having great furniture, I understand that they have amazing meatballs.

They do. Well, I’m a Swedish. I never get to eat Swedish meatballs and here in China, they do have some of the bettors’ meatballs around. So, I would recommend if you haven’t tried them. Try them. They’re pretty good.

Yeah, go to IKEA.

Go to IKEA, have some dinner. Let me know. Our website is Englishpod.com. Do you like IKEA and do you love their meatballs?

All right, we’ll see you guys there. Bye.