whats the difference between a clan and a house ? its for my book and i use both words i know it means family but is thair a difference?

house - an old important family, especially a royal one

the House of Windsor/Hanover/Habsburg

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/amer...

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this "ancestor" is non-human, it is referred to as a totem, which is frequently an animal. Clans can be most easily described as tribes or sub-groups of tribes. The word clan is derived from clann meaning children or progeny but not family in the Irish language[1][2] and Scottish Gaelic languages. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was introduced into English around the year 1425 as a label for the tribal nature of the Scottish Highlands society.[3] Clans in indigenous societies are likely to be exogamous, meaning that their members cannot marry one another. Clans preceded more centralized forms of community organization and government; they are located in every country. Members may identify with a coat of arms or other symbol to show they are an independent clan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan

A clan is an extended family. Your clan might include your parents and siblings, but also your cousins and second cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

Families that are related to each other, whether through marriage or as distant cousins, are members of the same clan. If you get together with a big family group every summer, you can say you vacation with your clan. In Scotland, a person's clan has a specific name, like "clan MacLachlan." The word comes from the Gaelic clann, "family" or "offspring," with the Latin root planta, "offshoot."

http://www.answers.com/topic/clan

(often) House

A family or family lineage, especially a noble or royal one; a dynasty:

the power and prestige of the house of Stewart

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/am...

Atomic family - Smallest family unit. House - Small family unit sometimes called extended family. Clan - Large family unit. Tribe - Very large family unit. Nation - Unit so large its family relationship is so old it's legendary.

house

the people present in a house, esp its usual occupants

a family line including ancestors and relatives, esp a noble one ⇒ the House of York

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/englis...

clan

a group of people interrelated by ancestry or marriage

a group of families with a common surname and a common ancestor, acknowledging the same leader, esp among the Scots and the Irish

a group of people united by common characteristics, aims, or interests

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/englis...

clan originated a Scottish term for a line of descendants; I don't know what context you are using house in - could just be a household - ie a family

A clan is made up of people.A house is a thing of bricks & timber,a different thing altogether.

Depends on when and where you are talking about. Give some detail and you might get a useful answer. You might also try looking it up.