Rooms in German: House & Furniture Vocabulary With Plurals

A room in German is das Zimmer, and most rooms simply add a word in front of it: das Wohnzimmer (living room), das Schlafzimmer (bedroom), das Badezimmer (bathroom). The kitchen is die Küche, a house is das Haus and an apartment is die Wohnung. Furniture is die Möbel, a plural word, and the basics are der Tisch (table), der Stuhl (chair) and das Bett (bed).

Below you'll find rooms, furniture and appliances with their articles and plurals, plus how to describe your home, how to say where things are, and why Germans open their windows in winter. Looking for a place to live? Our guide to German apartment-hunting vocabulary covers listings, rent and viewings.

The Building: das Haus, die Wohnung, der Keller

In German cities, most people rent an apartment in a multi-story building rather than live in a house. These are the words for the building around you:

German	Plural	English
das Haus	die Häuser	house, building
die Wohnung	die Wohnungen	apartment, flat
das Stockwerk / die Etage	die Stockwerke / die Etagen	floor, story
das Erdgeschoss	die Erdgeschosse	ground floor (US: first floor)
der Keller	die Keller	basement, cellar
der Dachboden	die Dachböden	attic, loft
der Balkon	die Balkone / die Balkons	balcony
der Garten	die Gärten	garden, yard
die Treppe	die Treppen	stairs, staircase
der Aufzug	die Aufzüge	elevator, lift

Die Treppe is one staircase, so it's singular where English says "stairs": Die Treppe ist steil. — The stairs are steep.
Der Aufzug is the standard word, but you'll also hear der Fahrstuhl and der Lift. Older buildings often don't have one, so ask: Gibt es einen Aufzug? — Is there an elevator?

Notice how many plurals add an umlaut: Haus → Häuser, Garten → Gärten, Aufzug → Aufzüge. Our guide to German plural rules shows which endings to expect.

Rooms in German: das Wohnzimmer, die Küche, das Bad

Here's the shortcut: most rooms end in -zimmer, and a compound noun takes the gender of its last part. Das Zimmer is neuter, so every -zimmer room is das, and its plural looks just like the singular. More patterns like this are in our guide to der, die, das rules.

German	Plural	English
das Zimmer	die Zimmer	room
das Wohnzimmer	die Wohnzimmer	living room
das Schlafzimmer	die Schlafzimmer	bedroom
das Kinderzimmer	die Kinderzimmer	children's room, nursery
das Arbeitszimmer	die Arbeitszimmer	study, home office
das Esszimmer	die Esszimmer	dining room
die Küche	die Küchen	kitchen
das Bad / das Badezimmer	die Bäder / die Badezimmer	bathroom
die Toilette / das WC	die Toiletten / die WCs	toilet, restroom
der Flur	die Flure	hallway, hall

Das Bad is the short, everyday word for the bathroom: Ich bin im Bad. — I'm in the bathroom.
Die Toilette is the standard word for the toilet. WC (said "vay-TSAY") is what you'll see on signs and in listings, and das Klo is casual. Larger apartments often have a separate guest toilet, das Gäste-WC. When you need it, ask: Wo ist die Toilette? — Where's the bathroom?

Furniture in German: der Tisch, das Bett, der Schrank

Furniture is die Möbel, and it's plural: Die Möbel sind neu. — The furniture is new. One piece of furniture is das Möbelstück. There's no reliable pattern for the genders here, so learn each piece with its article:

German	Plural	English
der Tisch	die Tische	table
der Stuhl	die Stühle	chair
der Sessel	die Sessel	armchair
das Sofa / die Couch	die Sofas / die Couchs	sofa, couch
das Bett	die Betten	bed
der Schrank	die Schränke	cupboard, wardrobe, closet
das Regal	die Regale	shelf, bookcase
der Schreibtisch	die Schreibtische	desk
die Lampe	die Lampen	lamp, light
der Teppich	die Teppiche	rug, carpet
der Spiegel	die Spiegel	mirror

Der Schrank is any cupboard with doors: der Kleiderschrank (wardrobe), der Küchenschrank (kitchen cupboard). Built-in closets are uncommon in German rentals, so most people buy a freestanding Kleiderschrank.
Die Lampe covers lamps and lights. Don't be surprised by bare wires hanging from the ceiling in a new apartment: tenants often take their ceiling lights with them when they move out.
Der Teppich is a rug; wall-to-wall carpet is der Teppichboden.

Kitchen and Bathroom Vocabulary

German	Plural	English
der Kühlschrank	die Kühlschränke	fridge, refrigerator
der Herd	die Herde	stove, cooker
der Backofen	die Backöfen	oven
die Spülmaschine	die Spülmaschinen	dishwasher
die Waschmaschine	die Waschmaschinen	washing machine
die Dusche	die Duschen	shower
die Badewanne	die Badewannen	bathtub
das Waschbecken	die Waschbecken	sink, washbasin

Das Waschbecken is the bathroom sink. The kitchen sink is die Spüle.
Die Spülmaschine is also called der Geschirrspüler: Kannst du die Spülmaschine ausräumen? — Can you empty the dishwasher?
Der Backofen is often just der Ofen: Die Pizza ist im Ofen. — The pizza is in the oven.

How to Describe Your Home in German

Meine Wohnung hat drei Zimmer

When Germans count rooms, they count the living room and bedrooms, but not the kitchen, bathroom or hallway. So Meine Wohnung hat drei Zimmer. — My apartment has three rooms — usually means a living room and two bedrooms. Listings call that a 3-Zimmer-Wohnung, and our guide to apartment hunting in Germany decodes the rest of the ad.

More sentences to describe your home:

Ich wohne in einer Wohnung im Zentrum. — I live in an apartment in the city center.
Wir wohnen in einem Haus mit Garten. — We live in a house with a garden.
Die Wohnung hat einen Balkon, aber keinen Aufzug. — The apartment has a balcony but no elevator.
Das Wohnzimmer ist hell und gemütlich. — The living room is bright and cozy.

Notice einen Balkon and keinen Aufzug: what you have is the object of haben, so it's in the accusative, and masculine ein becomes einen.

Which Floor? Erdgeschoss and erster Stock

German counts floors like British English: you enter on the Erdgeschoss (ground floor), and der erste Stock is one floor up. If you're American, add one:

German	US English	UK English
das Erdgeschoss (EG)	first floor	ground floor
der erste Stock (1. OG)	second floor	first floor
der zweite Stock (2. OG)	third floor	second floor

Ich wohne im Erdgeschoss. — I live on the ground floor.
Wir wohnen im dritten Stock. — We live on the third floor (the fourth floor in the US).

Stock and Etage mean the same here: im dritten Stock = in der dritten Etage. (OG, short for Obergeschoss, is what you'll see in listings and on signs.)

Stoßlüften: Why Germans Open the Windows in Winter

Visit a German home in January and you may see someone throw the windows wide open for a few minutes, then shut them again. That's Stoßlüften, literally "burst airing", and many Germans do it several times a day, even in the coldest weeks.

Why? Cooking, showering and even breathing fill a room with moisture, and if it can't escape, it can lead to mold (der Schimmel). A few minutes with the windows wide open swaps the damp air for fresh air before the walls have time to cool down, so you lose little heat. Landlords expect tenants to air regularly, and if mold appears, one of the first questions will be whether you did.

What Germans don't like is a window left tilted open (auf Kipp) all day in winter: it lets in little fresh air but cools the walls around the window and wastes heating. German windows usually open two ways: turn the handle sideways to open the window fully, or up to tilt it.

Ich lüfte mal kurz. — I'm just going to air the room for a moment.
Dreh bitte die Heizung runter, wenn du lüftest. — Please turn the heating down while you air the room.
Lass das Fenster nicht den ganzen Tag auf Kipp. — Don't leave the window tilted open all day.

Many Germans also take their shoes off at the door. For more house rules, like quiet hours (die Ruhezeiten) and recycling, see our guide to cultural habits in Germany.

Where Is It? Two-Way Prepositions at Home

To say where things are, you need prepositions like auf (on), in (in), an (on a wall), unter (under) and neben (next to). They're two-way prepositions: they take the dative when something is in a place (Wo?) and the accusative when you move something to a place (Wohin?).

Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. — The book is on the table. (Wo? → dative)
Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch. — I put the book on the table. (Wohin? → accusative)

English says "put" for almost everything, but German picks the verb by how the thing ends up: lying flat, standing upright or hanging. The verbs come in pairs, one for the position and one for the action:

Verb pair	Wo? → dative	Wohin? → accusative
liegen / legen (lying flat)	Das Handy liegt auf dem Bett. — The phone is on the bed.	Ich lege das Handy auf das Bett. — I put the phone on the bed.
stehen / stellen (upright)	Die Milch steht im Kühlschrank. — The milk is in the fridge.	Ich stelle die Milch in den Kühlschrank. — I put the milk in the fridge.
hängen / hängen (hanging)	Der Spiegel hängt an der Wand. — The mirror is on the wall.	Ich hänge den Spiegel an die Wand. — I hang the mirror on the wall.

The other prepositions work the same way: Der Teppich liegt unter dem Tisch. — The rug is under the table. Der Schreibtisch steht neben dem Fenster. — The desk is next to the window.

German shortens in dem to im and in das to ins: Ich bin im Wohnzimmer. — I'm in the living room. Ich gehe ins Bett. — I'm going to bed. And one twist: books lie on a table but stand on a shelf, because there they're upright: Die Bücher stehen im Regal. — The books are on the shelf. Our full guide to German two-way prepositions covers all nine.

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
Das Buch liegt auf den Tisch.	Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.	Where something is (Wo?) takes the dative.
Ich liege das Buch auf den Tisch.	Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch.	Legen is the action (to put); liegen is the position (to lie).
Der Schlafzimmer ist groß.	Das Schlafzimmer ist groß.	The last part of a compound sets the gender: das Zimmer.
Ich wohne im ersten Stock. (meaning street level)	Ich wohne im Erdgeschoss.	Der erste Stock is one floor above the ground floor.
Ich gehe zu Hause.	Ich gehe nach Hause.	Nach Hause = (going) home; zu Hause = at home.
Wo ist das Badezimmer? (in a restaurant)	Wo ist die Toilette?	A Badezimmer has a bath or shower; in public, ask for the Toilette.

Practice

Fill in the article: dem, den, der, die or das.

Die Lampe steht auf ___ Schreibtisch.
Ich stelle die Lampe auf ___ Schreibtisch.
Das Bild hängt an ___ Wand.
Wir gehen in ___ Küche.
___ Kinderzimmer ist oben.
Der Teppich liegt unter ___ Bett.

Answers: 1. dem (Wo?) 2. den (Wohin?) 3. der (die Wand, Wo?) 4. die (Wohin?) 5. Das (das Zimmer) 6. dem (das Bett, Wo?)

Then describe your own home in three sentences: how many rooms, which floor, and where your favorite piece of furniture is. For example: Meine Wohnung hat zwei Zimmer und liegt im dritten Stock. Das Wohnzimmer ist klein, aber hell. Mein Schreibtisch steht am Fenster. — My apartment has two rooms and is on the third floor. The living room is small but bright. My desk is by the window.

When you're ready, test yourself with an A1 German quiz.

FAQ

How do you say "room" in German?

Das Zimmer (plural: die Zimmer). Most rooms are built on it: das Wohnzimmer, das Schlafzimmer, das Badezimmer. Der Raum also means room, but in a more general sense, like a storage room or a meeting room.

Is the Erdgeschoss the first floor?

In American English, yes. The Erdgeschoss is the floor at street level, and der erste Stock is the floor above it: the US second floor, or the UK first floor.

What's the difference between Bad and Badezimmer?

There's none: das Bad is the short form of das Badezimmer, and it's what most people say at home. In a restaurant or office, ask for die Toilette.

What does Stoßlüften mean?

Opening the windows wide for a few minutes, several times a day, then closing them again. It lets out damp air without cooling the room down much, which saves on heating and helps prevent mold.

What is furniture in German?

Die Möbel, a word that's almost always used in the plural: Die Möbel sind neu. A single piece of furniture is das Möbelstück.