House and home: how to distinguish?

House and home: how to distinguish?

House and home are often used interchangeably because most people think they are the same. Functionally, these two words may be similar, they both refer to a place/thing that people use to live.

However, their use can vary depending on the speaker's purpose.

When you point to a building and say it's “my house,” it means it's an actual building; but when you say it's "my home", it means that's where your family lives. To put it clearly, house is just an architectural work while home is where the family lives in love and harmony.

1. Definition of house

We use the word house to talk about a building that is built for people to live inside. A house is actually a specific physical structure where a person or people live in it.

For example:

  • The nipa hut is a very popular traditional house in the Philippines.
  • The white house on York Avenue is mine.
  • We have a new house in Cebu.
  • There are only five houses on our street.
  • I want to build a beautiful house by the sea.

2. Definition of home

We use it house to refer to the actual building, but we use home to refer to a building or any place where a person lives and belongs. Home can be a house or an apartment, but it can also be a tent, a boat or an underground cave.

A home not just a concrete building. It is a place for family reunions with love, attachment and affection. All family members care about each other in one house.

Furthermore, we can also use home to talk about the family living in a house, or the familiar space inside one's house, where someone was born or lived as a child.

The word “home” can also refer to something abstract. For example, when someone says, “Let’s go home,” he may not be referring to the physical structure where you live. But he may be referring to the special place where you feel most comfortable, the place where you belong.

For example:

  • She feels at ease in their home.
  • That song reminds me of my home.
  • How does it feel to be back home?
  • I’d rather stay at home than go out.

3. Conclusion

Like very and too, house and home are just some words that we think are similar when semantically they are not. Although they have almost similar meanings, knowing their deeper meaning is very important. Obviously, each word has its own definition because house simply refers to a thing, while home is related to love, affection...

To avoid confusing these words next time, let's always remember:

House is a building in which a person or family lives.

Home is a house or apartment or any place where a person or a family lives in peace, love, harmony and affection.