Meaning & use
communal area
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A shared space in a building or complex that all residents or members may use.
Grammar: Countable: a communal area, the communal areas, one of the communal areas.
Patterns
- use a communal area
- share a communal area
- clean the communal areas
The building has a communal area with sofas and a television.
Students often study in the communal area on the ground floor.
Please keep your belongings out of the communal areas.
Word forms
| plural | communal areas |
|---|
Common combinations
- shared communal area
- The residents share a communal area for laundry.
- clean the communal area
- Each floor takes turns to clean the communal area.
- communal area on the ground floor
- There is a communal area on the ground floor with a kitchen.
- access to a communal area
- All tenants have access to a communal area with Wi-Fi.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shared space
- A general term for any area used by more than one person; communal area is more specific to buildings and housing.
- common room
- A common room is a comfortable room for sitting and socializing, while a communal area can be any shared space, including a hallway or laundry.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: communal area or common area?
communal area vs common area
Common area is very similar and often used in American English for the same idea; communal area is more common in British English.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'communal area' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A communal area is a shared space in a building, so residents meeting there fits. Option An is wrong because a communal area is not private, option C is wrong because a communal area is inside or part of a building complex, and option D is wrong because communal means shared by everyone, not just one person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “communal area”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.