住房 (zhù fáng) — housing | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A general term for housing or the housing sector (住房条件, 住房价格), rather than a single building. Compared to 房屋 ('building') and 住宅 ('residence, dwelling'), 住房 is broader and often refers to housing as a social or policy concept.

noun

housing

Measure word · 套

Examples

，住房。
Tā men zài yì jiā xīn gōng sī gōng zuò, zhèng zài zhǎo zhù fáng.
They work at a new company and are looking for housing.
住房。
Zhè lǐ de zhù fáng jià gé bǐ qù nián gāo le hěn duō.
Housing prices here are much higher than last year.
住房。
Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài gǎi shàn zhù fáng tiáo jiàn.
The government is improving housing conditions.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

住 gives 'live' and 房 gives 'house', meaning housing.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻主住

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

主

主zhǔ住zhù

Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

方fāng房fáng

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Home & Housing

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