住んでいる場所
sunde iru basho
The English phrase "where you live" is translated into Japanese as 住んでいる場所 (sunde iru basho).
This phrase is used to refer to the place or area where a person has their home. When you want to ask the specific question "Where do you live?", you should use the phrase どこに住んでいますか？ instead of using the noun phrase 住んでいる場所.
How does it change in a sentence?
You can replace the noun basho with tokoro to say "the place where (one) lives", which is common in descriptive or casual contexts. This can be written in hiragana as 住んでいるところ or using the kanji as 住んでいる所. Regarding expressing where you live, watashi wa (city name) ni sunde imasu is a formal way to say "I live in (city name)", whereas watashi wa (city name) ni sunde iru and boku wa (city name) ni sunde iru are informal versions. When discussing Japanese addresses, note that shi means city, chōme refers to the block number and banchi stands for the house number.
How do you pronounce it?
sunde iru basho
Did you know?
- If you live in an apartment, you might say you live in a mansion. In Japanese, this does not mean a huge estate, but refers to a reinforced concrete apartment building or condominium.
- In Japan, it is common to describe 住んでいる場所 by its proximity to a major train station rather than by a street name, as many streets are not named.
- The word shi used for 'city' is a kanji character that also means 'poetry' or 'death' depending on the reading and context.
Examples in context
- あなたが今住んでいる場所はどこですか？anata ga ima sunde iru basho wa doko desu ka?Where is the place where you live now?
- 私の住んでいる場所はとても静かです。watashi no sunde iru basho wa totemo shizuka desu.The place where I live is very quiet.
Example conversation
Two acquaintances are talking about their neighborhoods.
- 陽太 Yota陽太さんの住んでいる場所は便利ですか？Yota-san no sunde iru basho wa benri desu ka?Is where you live convenient, Yota?
- 陽太 Yotaはい、駅が近くてとても便利です。Hai, eki ga chikakute totemo benri desu.Yes, the station is close so it's very convenient.
- 美咲 Misakiいいですね。美咲の住んでいる場所は静かです。Ii desu ne. Misaki no sunde iru basho wa shizuka desu.That's nice. Where I live is quiet.
- 陽太 Yota静かなところはいいですね。Shizukana tokoro wa ii desu ne.Quiet places are nice.
