Chinese word

同居

Pronunciation

Pinyintóng jū

Meaning

  • verblive together

Example

他们决定同居一年试试看。tā men jué dìng tóng jū yì nián shì shì kàn

They decided to live together for a year and see how it goes.

Illustration for 同居 (live together)

More examples

毕业后他和室友开始同居，分担房租。bì yè hòu tā hé shì yǒu kāi shǐ tóng jū fēn dān fáng zū

After graduation, he started living with his roommate and split the rent.

Core concept

People place their everyday lives under one roof, creating one shared household for a limited period or an extended stay.

Common phrases

  • 和父母同居hé fù mǔ tóng jū

    live with one's parents

  • 和室友同居hé shì yǒu tóng jū

    live with a roommate

  • 和朋友同居hé péng yǒu tóng jū

    live with a friend

Similar words

住在一起zhù zài yì qǐ: Live in the same place and share daily life.
搬到一起bān dào yì qǐ: Move into the same home and begin living together.
同住tóng zhù: Live together in the same home or place.

Definition in Chinese

两人或多人在同一屋檐下共同生活，既可为短期试住也可为长期共居，强调共同居住的事实而不限定关系类型。liǎng rén huò duō rén zài tóng yì wū yán xià gòng tóng shēng huó jì kě wèi duǎn qī shì zhù yě kě wèi cháng qī gòng jū qiáng diào gòng tóng jū zhù de shì shí ér bú xiàn dìng guān xì lèi xíng

Word origin

同居 (tóngjū, "live together") is formed from 同 (tóng, "together") + 居 (jū, "to live"), making its meaning easy to connect with people living in the same place.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, a time period can be added to show that the shared-home arrangement is temporary, as in a plan lasting one year.

Other meanings

  • cohabitationnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 同居者tóng jū zhěcohabitantnoun
  • 同居生活tóng jū shēng huócohabitationnoun

Word lists with this word