self-storage

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A service or building where you rent a locked space to keep your own possessions.

   Grammar: Uncountable when talking about the service or industry; countable when talking about a particular facility (a self-storage).

   Patterns

   • use self-storage
   • a self-storage unit/facility
   • put something in self-storage

   We put most of our furniture in self-storage while we looked for a bigger flat.

   The city has several self-storage facilities near the highway.

   Self-storage is a good option if you are moving abroad for a year.

2. 2nouncountable

   A rented space in such a building.

   Grammar: Countable when referring to one unit; often used in the plural.

   Patterns

   • rent a self-storage
   • a self-storage unit

   They rented a self-storage for their extra boxes.

   The company owns self-storages in three states.

Word forms

Common combinations

self-storage unit

She keeps her winter clothes in a self-storage unit.

self-storage facility

The new self-storage facility has climate control.

put something in self-storage

We put the piano in self-storage until the house was ready.

rent self-storage

They rent self-storage during the renovation.

Synonyms and how they differ

storage unit

More common in American English and refers to the individual space, not the whole service.

lock-up

British, informal; can mean a small rented room or garage for storage, but not a large self-storage building.

Word family

storage noun

The general act or space for keeping things.

store verb

To keep something for later use.

Commonly confused: self-storage or self-store?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “self-storage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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