Meaning of 住
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to live; to reside; to stay
- to stop; to cease
- (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state)
How to use 住
住 is the everyday verb for where you live, usually followed by 在 and a place. It also works as a result complement after verbs to show something is held firm, as in 记住 (jìzhù) and 抓住 (zhuāzhù). Example: 我住在北京。(Wǒ zhù zài Běijīng.) I live in Beijing.
住 combines the person radical 亻 with 主 (zhǔ, master), which also hints at the sound. Picture a person who is master of a place, staying there and living in it.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 住 (zhù) with 往 (wǎng, toward), which has the double person radical 彳 instead of 亻. Also keep the fourth tone in zhù, not the third tone of 主 (zhǔ).
住 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
住 zhù · to live · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Related words
Words that share a character with 住.
| 记住 | jìzhù | to remember; to bear in mind |
| 站住 | zhànzhù | to come to a stop; to halt; to keep one's footing; to stay upright |
| 住院 | zhùyuàn | to stay in hospital; to be hospitalized |
| 住房 | zhùfáng | housing |
| 抓住 | zhuāzhù | to grab hold of; to capture |
| 居住 | jūzhù | to reside; to dwell |
| 忍不住 | rěn bu zhù | cannot help; unable to bear |
| 住宅 | zhùzhái | residence; dwelling; abode |
| 住处 | zhùchù | residence; dwelling |
| 住址 | zhùzhǐ | address |
| 住宿 | zhùsù | to stay at; lodging |
| 住户 | zhùhù | household; inhabitant |
Questions about 住
What does 住 mean?
住 (zhù) means "to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 住?
住 is made of 1 character: 住 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 住 an HSK word?
Yes. 住 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 住 and 居住?
住 is the common spoken word for living or staying somewhere. 居住 (jūzhù) means the same but sounds formal and appears more in writing, news, and official documents.
Can 住 mean staying somewhere temporarily, like a hotel?
Yes. 住 covers short stays too, for example 我住酒店。(Wǒ zhù jiǔdiàn.) I am staying at a hotel. You can add a time phrase, as in 住三天 (zhù sān tiān), to stay three days.