sofa
gb/sˈoʊfə/ us/sˈoʊfə/
A1
English
~ 8400
kanapé
NOUN
A1
1
kanapé
A2
Usage pattern:
a sofa in [a room]
We bought a new grey sofa for the living room.
Vettünk egy új szürke kanapét a nappaliba.
She fell asleep on the sofa while watching TV.
Elaludt a kanapén tévézés közben.
There isn't enough space for another sofa in this apartment.
Please don't put your shoes on the sofa.
Learner examples
They are sitting on the sofa.
A kanapén ülnek.
I like to read on the sofa after work.
Szeretek munka után a kanapén olvasni.
The red sofa is next to the window.
Our dog loves to sleep on the sofa.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'sofa' with 'couch' and 'armchair'. In most everyday situations, 'sofa' and 'couch' mean the same thing, but an 'armchair' is for one person. Another common mistake is using the wrong preposition: we say 'sit on the sofa', not 'sit in the sofa'.
Meaning
Long upholstered seat for several people
Collocations
comfortable sofa
|leather sofa
|two-seater sofa
|sofa bed
|sit on the sofa
|lie on the sofa
Synonyms
couch (Very close in meaning; more common in American English, while 'sofa' can sound slightly more formal or neutral.)
|
settee (Mainly British English and somewhat more old-fashioned or formal than 'sofa'.)
Antonyms
bed (A piece of furniture mainly for sleeping rather than sitting, contrasting with the main use of a sofa.)
Themes
home
|daily life
|furniture
|housing
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Definition
A long, soft seat in a living room where two or more people can sit.
A long, comfortable piece of furniture with a back and usually arms, large enough for two or more people to sit on.
Grammar
Dictionary form
sofa
IPA
GB/sˈoʊfə/
US/sˈoʊfə/
Syllables & stress
sofa (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (sofa)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: sofa
- Plural: sofas
Word family
Expressions
sofa bed
1/sˈoʊfə bˈɛd/
fixed phrase
Sofa that turns into a bed
A sofa that you can open or change so that people can sleep on it like a bed.
Examples
- We keep a sofa bed in the guest room for visitors.
- The apartment is small, so I sleep on a sofa bed in the living area.
- They pulled out the sofa bed when it was time to go to sleep.
sofa surfing
1/sˈoʊfə sˈɚfɪŋ/
idiom
informal
Living by staying on friends' sofas
Living or traveling by staying for short times on friends' or other people's sofas, instead of paying for your own place to stay.
Examples
- After losing his job, he spent a few months sofa surfing with friends.
- During her gap year she was mostly sofa surfing around Europe.
- I'm tired of sofa surfing and want to find my own flat.