One of our happiest songs about the present: a family house in London, full of noise.
Learn from Songs · Unit 1: Present time · A2–B1
Our House
A busy, happy song about a family home: the present simple for family routines (Father gets up late), the present continuous for what is happening now, house and family vocabulary, and there is / there are, with Marcos, whose house is very noisy indeed.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Like my house! My little brothers never stop shouting.
PHILO
My house is very quiet. Too quiet, sometimes.
SOPHIA
Listen, and then you can both describe your houses.
Before you listen: the song
London, 1982
Madness are a band from Camden, in north London. They play a happy, jumping kind of music called ska, with saxophones, and they are famous for their funny videos.
In 1982, they recorded “Our House”, about a normal, busy family home in the middle of a street. Every morning, the father gets up late for work, the mother is busy, the children are noisy, and there is always something happening. The singer remembers it all with love: it was a place where everyone was together.
The song was a hit in Britain and the USA, and it is still played everywhere today.
Our house, in the middle of our street.
Listen: the family
DEMETRIA
Listen once. Who lives in the house? What does each person do in the morning?
SOPHIA
Then listen again, and answer Section A.
🏠 Listen to the song: “Our House” (Madness, 1982).Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Our House”, Madness.Read the lyrics →
The present simple: family routines
MARCOS
Father gets up late. Mother irons the shirts. The kids make a lot of noise.
SOPHIA
Routines and habits: the present simple, with -s for he / she / it. Add every morning, always, usually, on Sundays. Spelling: wash → washes, watch → watches, go → goes, carry → carries.
Now: the present continuous
PHILO
And now? What is happening in your house right now, Marcos?
MARCOS
Right now, my mother is shouting, my brothers are fighting, and the dog is eating my sandal.
House and family words
DEMETRIA
Living room, kitchen, bedroom, upstairs, downstairs, the garden, the hall.
SOPHIA
And there is / there are: There’s a kitchen downstairs. There are three bedrooms upstairs. Family: parents, siblings, brothers and sisters, grandparents, relatives. Careful: parents means mother and father; relatives means all your family.
Sophia’s comparison
SOPHIA
The Greeks had a word for it: the oikos, the household: the house, the family, the slaves, the animals, everything. It gives us the words economy (the rules of the household) and ecology.
MARCOS
So economics is just… looking after your house?
DEMETRIA
It is if your house is as noisy as yours!
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present simple + -s | family routines and habits | Father gets up late every day. |
| present continuous | what is happening now | The kids are playing in the hall. |
| there is / there are | describing a house | There are three bedrooms upstairs. |
| upstairs, downstairs, living room, hall | house vocabulary | The kitchen is downstairs. |
| parents / relatives / siblings | family words | My parents are at work. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Where is the house?
2. What does the father do in the morning?
3. How does the house feel?
4. How does the singer feel about the house?
5. What kind of music is it?
6. Which tense describes the family’s habits?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. My father up at seven every day. (get)
8. Look! The children in the garden. (play, now)
9. There three bedrooms upstairs.
10. My mother the dishes after dinner. (wash)
11. My aunts, uncles and cousins are my .
12. The kitchen is , and the bedrooms are upstairs.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “My parents are my mother, my father and my uncle.”
14. “My sister watches TV every evening.”
15. “Right now, my brother plays football.”
16. “There is two cats in our house.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Describe your house. In pairs: where is it? How many rooms are there? Who lives there? What does everyone do in the morning?
Discuss. 1. Do you prefer a busy house or a quiet one? 2. What is your favourite room, and why? 3. Why do you think so many songs are about home?
Write (80–120 words). Our house. Describe your home and family: the house (there is / there are), everyone’s routines (present simple), and what is happening there right now (present continuous).
Now play the gamebook: a morning of chaos in Marcos’s house.Play the gamebook →