I saw this sign posted on the side of an apartment building. If you’re looking for an apartment to rent in Montréal, it’s a good idea to learn what everything on this sign means.
appartements à louer
apartments for rent
semi-meublé
partially furnished
poêle et réfrigérateur
stove and refrigerator
chauffé
heating included
eau chaude
hot water included
conciergerie et buanderie sur place
maintenance and laundry room on site
Chauffé doesn’t mean the apartment has heating — all apartments in Montréal have heating because of that thing called winter. Chauffé means the costs associated with heating are included in the amount you’ll pay in rent. You don’t need to pay extra for heating, in other words.
The same goes for eau chaude. It means that you don’t need to pay extra for hot water; it’s included in your rent.
Poêle and réfrigérateur are both masculine words.
The sign uses the word une buanderie, but the laundry room is very often called une salle de lavage.
If semi-meublé on this sign means partially furnished, then meublé means fully furnished. If the apartment isn’t furnished at all, it might say non meublé or nothing at all about furniture.
Le concierge is the person who takes care of the building. For example, if you needed a repair in the apartment, you’d call the concierge.
Not on the sign is the term bureau de location. That’s the rental office. If there’s a bureau de location in the building, that’s where you’ll sign your lease (le bail) and make your rental payments every month.
If an apartment is a 3½ (un trois et demie), it’s got 3 rooms + bathroom (½). The number before the half symbol tells how many rooms (not bedrooms!) are in the apartment. Note that a room may be a kitchen, living room or bedroom. The half symbol represents the bathroom. In the case of a 3½, you can expect a bedroom (1), kitchen (1), living room (1) and bathroom (½).
Demie is feminine because the word that’s understood is une pièce (room):
un trois et demie
= un [appartement] trois [pièces] et demie
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