Meet 居 in 居間, 居住 and 同居. Connect each whole word and its reading to a real context.

The idea

居 has 8 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Compare 居間（いま） with 居住（きょじゅう）. Learn the reading with the whole word, not the character in isolation.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
居間いまThe family is talking in the living room.
居住きょじゅうMy older sister resides in Tokyo.
同居どうきょI live with my grandmother.

Examples

  • 猫ねこは庭にわに居います。The cat is in the garden.
  • 家族かぞくは居間いまで話はなしています。The family is talking in the living room.
  • 祖母そぼと同居どうきょしています。I live with my grandmother.
  • 姉あねは東京とうきょうに居住きょじゅうしています。My older sister resides in Tokyo.
  • 私わたしの居場所いばしょはここです。This is the place where I belong.
  • 偶然ぐうぜんその場ばに居合いあわせました。I happened to be there at the time.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

居る describes the presence of people or animals and is often written いる. 居住 is a formal word for residence; everyday 住む is more neutral. Compare 居 with 古: 居 has the enclosing 尸 component.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 居間 in hiragana.

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    いま

    居間 is read いま. In context: The family is talking in the living room.

  2. Write the reading of 居住 in hiragana.

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    きょじゅう

    居住 is read きょじゅう. In context: My older sister resides in Tokyo.

  3. Write the missing kanji: ＿居（どうきょ）.

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    居

    居 completes 同居, read どうきょ. In context: I live with my grandmother.

Use it today

Write 居 three times using the stroke diagram. Cover the table, read 居間 and 居住 aloud, then check their readings and meanings.