Are you ‘moving houses’ or ‘moving house’? How do you know which one is the correct way to say the phrase? We’ll cover that and go over other common idioms you might’ve heard before. Lastly, you’ll learn how to use this idiom in a sentence.
But for the quick answer, the correct way to say the phrase is ‘moving house.’ You’d only say ‘moving houses’ if you’re talking about moving more than one house.
You’ve just learned that the correct way to say this idiom is ‘moving house.’ That’s unless, of course, you’re talking about moving to more than one house.
You might be wondering what the difference is between the phrases ‘move house’ and ‘move home.’
Well, the former phrase refers to simply moving from one house to another. The latter could mean that you went away to college, and now you’re moving back home. You’d use it in the following way:
The Merriam-Webster definition of ‘move’ is “to go or pass to another place or in a certain direction with a continuous motion,” “to proceed toward a certain state or condition,” “to keep peace,” “to start away from some point or place: depart,” “to carry on one’s life or activities in a specified environment,” “and to change position or posture: stir.”
It’s also defined as “to take action: act,” “to begin operating or functioning or working in a usual way,” “to show marked activity,” “to change hands by being sold or rented,” and “to make a formal request, application, or appeal.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists ‘move house’ under the first definition of ‘move’ to mean “to change one’s residence.”
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase ‘move house’ means “to change one’s home or place of residence.”
Synonyms
Some synonyms of the word include:
The phrases ‘moving house’ and ‘move house’ are both considered idioms.
What is an idiom, you ask?
An idiom is “an expression in the usage of a language that’s peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for “undecided”) or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give away),” according to Merriam-Webster.
In simple terms, idioms are expressions that don’t mean exactly what the words say.
For example, someone might say that someone “spilled the beans,” meaning they’ve talked too much and revealed a secret of some sort.
Some common idioms you might’ve heard before include:
Now that you’ve gotten a refresher on idioms and you know what the words mean, we can look at how to use both phrases in a sentence correctly.
Take a look at some examples of how to use ‘move house’ in a sentence correctly:
Check out some examples of how to use ‘moving house’ in a sentence:
‘Move house’ simply means to move. In American English, you’d likely say that you’re moving. But in British English, someone might say they’re ‘moving house.’
Now you know ‘moving house’ is the most common way to say this idiom. If you’re talking about moving more than one house, in that case, you’d be ‘moving houses.’
If you ever have trouble remembering, don’t be afraid to come back here and browse our library of confusing words or idioms, and figures of speech.
We can help you with other idioms, such as ‘pie in the sky’ and ‘soft spoken.’
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