How to Write 住 (zhù) — Meaning “to live; to stay; to stop”

Imagine a person (亻) standing next to a 'main pillar' (主) that supports a house — that pillar marks where they live. The dot on top of 主 looks like a roof, helping you picture a home. This visual links the components to the meaning of 'to live'.

Write the left radical 亻 first (two strokes: slant, then vertical), keeping it narrow. Then write 主 with five strokes: dot, then three horizontals, and a final vertical line — the dot must be above the first horizontal, not touching it. A common mistake is making the 亻 too wide or confusing the order of strokes in 主.

仔 (zǐ) uses 亻 plus 子 (child) and means 'young' or 'careful', while 仕 (shì) uses 亻 plus 士 (scholar) and means 'official'. In contrast, 住 uses 主 (main/host) and focuses on dwelling or staying. Visually, 住 has a dot above a horizontal line in its right part, while 仔 has a horizontal hook under a child shape, and 仕 has a simple 士.

住 is very common in daily life: 住在 (live in), 记住 (remember), and 住院 (be hospitalized). It can also mean 'stop' as in 停住 (stop moving). Culturally, asking '你住在哪里？' (Where do you live?) is a basic polite question when getting to know someone.

Common words containing 住 include: 住在 (zhù zài) — to live in; to reside at; 记住 (jì zhù) — To remember or keep in mind; 住院 (zhù yuàn) — to be hospitalized.