住む

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 私は東京に住んでいます。▶ —
   I live in Tokyo.
2. どこに住みたいですか。▶ —
   Where would you like to live?

Collocations

Mnemonic

すむ — 住む, Yamato. A godan -mu verb. The kanji 住 is 亻 (person) + 主 (to stay, master) ── a person staying in one place and becoming its master. The particle is always ~に ── 東京に住んでいる (live in Tokyo). Exactly the seat of the Korean 'dokyoe' particle. Tense divides the meaning ── the same asymmetry seen in 持つ from K-27-G works here ── 住む (plain form): 'to take up residence in future' ── future, resolve. 住んでいる (the ~ている form): 'currently living' ── present state. Living is not a one-moment act but a continuing state, so the present requires ~ている. The metaphor reaches further ── 心に住む (to live in the heart = to settle deep in someone's memory). A word of poems and novels. The Korean reading ju is sister to the onyomi じゅう ── 住所 juusho (address).

Quick check

1. Natural Japanese for "I live in Tokyo"?

   • "Toukyou ni sunde imasu" — resultative state
   • "Toukyou ni sumimasu" — future / commitment
   • "Toukyou de sumimasu" — particle wrong
   • "Toukyou wo sumimasu" — ungrammatical