Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to live; to dwell; to reside; to stop

Chinese: 居住、停住或承受。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “zhu” becomes a different word in each tone. 住 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 记住jì zhuto remember; to bear in mind; to learn by heart
  • 住院zhù yuànto stay in hospital; to be hospitalized
  • 住房zhù fánghousing
  • 站住zhàn zhùto come to a stop; to halt; to keep one's footing; to stay upright
  • 抓住zhuā zhùto grab hold of; to capture

Example Sentence

我住在学校附近。Wǒ zhù zài xué xiào fù jìn.I live near the school.

Izhùto livezàiat学校xué xiàoschool附近fù jìnnearby

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

The person radical 亻 (meaning) plus 主 (zhǔ, sound): where a person settles — ‘to live / stay / reside’.

A way to remember it

A person (亻) + the sound 主 — to live somewhere.

Easy to confuse with

  • zhǔ‘Master’: the sound part of 住, on its own.