Meaning & use
moving house
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseBritish
The act of leaving your home and going to live in a different one.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase: 'Moving house is expensive.' It is not used as a verb; you say 'We are moving house,' not 'We are moving house-ing.'
Patterns
- be moving house
- the process of moving house
- after moving house
We're moving house next month, so everything is in boxes.
Moving house can be stressful, especially with children.
They've moved house three times in five years.
Common combinations
- moving house
- Moving house is always more work than you expect.
- be moving house
- My parents are moving house in the spring.
- after moving house
- After moving house, we needed new curtains.
Synonyms and how they differ
- relocating
- More formal and often used for companies or jobs, not just homes.
- moving
- Shorter and more general; 'moving house' is the usual British phrase for changing homes.
Commonly confused: moving house or moving in?
moving house vs moving in
'Moving in' means starting to live in a new home, often with someone else. 'Moving house' means leaving your old home completely.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'moving house' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Moving house' is a fixed phrase meaning changing homes, so 'We are moving house next week' is correct. The others use it like a verb that takes an object or a place, which is not natural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “moving house”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.