“I didn't want to put her in a nursing home.”

English Lesson: I didn't want to put her in a nursing home.

Your elderly mother lives with you and your family. You're explaining to a friend why you decided to invite her to live with you.

I didn't want to put her in a nursing home.

Want Video and Sound? Follow us on YouTube

put (someone) in a (home/institution/etc.)

When people can't properly care for a family member, they sometimes "put them in" some kind of special home or institution, like:

  • a nursing home
  • a retirement home
  • a mental hospital
  • a rehab facility
  • a group home
  • an orphanage

a nursing home

A "nursing home" is a special place where people who can't take care of themselves live. In a nursing home, there are employees who may do some of these services:

  • give you medicine
  • help you stand up or get into a wheelchair to move around
  • bring you meals
  • help you if you fall down and hurt yourself
  • help to dress or bathe you

Most commonly, very old people live in nursing homes. Sometimes people with extreme disabilities also need to live in a nursing home.