家住 (jiā zhù) — to live at (a place), to reside at

Definition

Literally 'home is located at', this is a formal, written way to say where someone lives — more literary than 住在 or the colloquial 住.

verb

to live at (a place)to reside at

，。
Tā jiā zhù shàng hǎi, dàn jīng cháng chū chāi.
He lives in Shanghai but often travels on business.
，。
Wǒ jiā zhù běi jīng, lí gōng sī hěn jìn.
I live in Beijing, very close to the company.
家住。
jiā zhù Nán jīng de rén hěn duō dōu qù shàng hǎi gōng zuò.
Many people who live in Nanjing go to work in Shanghai.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢑓

𢑓𢑓家jiā

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

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

Same sound today

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