住む
すむ · sumu
To live (of humans), to reside, to inhabit, to dwell, to abide
Other ways to say “to live” in Japanese →
high first, then falls · what is pitch accent?
Say it out loud
Press the microphone and say 住む (すむ)
Your browser’s speech recognition checks whether it understood you (in Chrome, Google processes the audio). Nihoner doesn’t record anything.
Do you really know it?
Learn its family in 60 seconds
6 words that share a kanji with 住む. Tap each card — then save only the ones that are new to you.
Your memory hook
Link the sound or the kanji to something you already know — a personal hook is one of the fastest ways to make a word stick. It’s saved to your free account with the word.
Kanji in this word
Can you write it? Draw kanji from memory →
Conjugation
| Polite (ます形) | 住みますすみます |
| Polite negative (ません) | 住みませんすみません |
| Polite past (ました) | 住みましたすみました |
| Polite past negative (ませんでした) | 住みませんでしたすみませんでした |
| Let us ~ (ましょう) | 住みましょうすみましょう |
| Masu-stem (連用形) | 住みすみ |
| Want to ~ (たい形) | 住みたいすみたい |
| While ~ing (ながら) | 住みながらすみながら |
| Te-form (て形) | 住んですんで |
| Plain past (た形) | 住んだすんだ |
| Tara-conditional (たら形) | 住んだらすんだら |
| Progressive (ている形) | 住んでいるすんでいる |
| Plain negative (ない形) | 住まないすまない |
| Plain past negative (なかった形) | 住まなかったすまなかった |
| Negative te-form (なくて) | 住まなくてすまなくて |
| Potential (可能形) | 住めるすめる |
| Ba-conditional (条件形) | 住めばすめば |
| Imperative (命令形) | 住めすめ |
| Volitional (意向形) | 住もうすもう |
| Passive (受身形) | 住まれるすまれる |
| Causative (使役形) | 住ませるすませる |
| Causative-passive (使役受身形) | 住まされるすまされる |
Practise every form in the Conjugation Dojo →
Words that share a kanji
Questions
What does 住む mean?
To live (of humans), to reside, to inhabit, to dwell, to abide.
How do you pronounce 住む?
すむ (sumu). Pitch accent: atamadaka — high first, then falls. Press Listen above to hear it.
What JLPT level is 住む?
JLPT N3 — intermediate. See the JLPT N3 guide.
How do I remember 住む?
Say it out loud with an example sentence, test yourself above, then save it to your deck: Nihoner brings it back just before you would forget it (spaced repetition).
Save your words
Create a free account and they will be waiting in your review deck — Nihoner brings each one back right before you would forget it.
Free · no card · your words are kept