A side room or chamber branching off a main hall. House, room, building, or branch of a family. A door (户) opening into a square side space (方).
The top piece 户 is an old picture of a door. The bottom piece 方 is only there for its sound: it tells you how to say the whole thing. Later the meaning generalised from a single doorway to a house, a room, or any enclosed space you step into.
Bare 房 sounds like a clipped listing label. The everyday countable noun is 房子.
房子 counts whole buildings. For individual rooms inside, use 房间.
For 'a house' as a thing, you need 房子. Bare 房 only lives inside fixed words.
房子 is the normal noun for a house or apartment: 这个房子很大, 我买了一个房子. Bare 房 rarely stands alone in conversation. It survives in set phrases like 买房 (buy a house) and inside room-words like 厨房. So 我买了一个房 sounds clipped, while 我买房了 is perfectly fine.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| A house as a thing | 我买了一个房子 | 我买了一个房 |
| Buying a house (verb) | 我想买房 | 我想买一个房 |
| Whole house as subject | 房子很大 | 房很大 |
房子 is the whole building. 房间 is a single room inside it.
房子 is the outer shell — an entire house or apartment. 房间 is one room within it. So 我的房子有三个房间 means your place has three rooms. Swap them and you'll call your whole flat a single room, or claim three 'houses' when you mean three rooms.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| The whole place | 这个房子很大 | 这个房间很大 (if you mean the whole place) |
| One room | 我的房间很小 | 我的房子很小 (if you mean one room) |
| Counting rooms | 三个房间 | 三个房子 |
家 is your home and family. 房子 is just the physical building.
家 is where your people are — warm and personal. 房子 is the bricks and walls — a property, a rental, a listing. You 回家 (go home), never 回房子. You say 我家有四个人 for your family, but 这个房子很大 for a building. 家 can be a tiny rented room; 房子 can sit empty.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Going home | 我回家 | 我回房子 |
| Your family | 我家有四个人 | 我的房子有四个人 |
| Buying property | 我买了一个房子 | 我买了一个家 |
Enjoy this simple story about a patient and a mysterious apple. It shows how a small act of kindness can make someone feel at home, and you'll learn key words for feelings and daily life.
马家友生病了，在医院的三号 房间 住。
是二号 房间 的老先生给你的。
马家友去二号 房间 找老先生。
老先生回家了，不在 病房 。
A young man helps an old man look for his cat. But the real surprise is why the old man wanted to find the cat. Read on to learn about kindness and friendship.
谁看见我的大白猫大白，请打电话给三号 房间 。”
一天下午，白天明去三号 房间 看老先生。
Follow a traveler's unexpected hospital stay in China, where counting days and costs becomes practical learning. Practice numbers, dates, food prices, and simple descriptions of a doctor and room.
休息两星期，七天住医院医生人很好， 房间 大漂亮。
Follow a day from waking at six-thirty to coming home at eight, then leap across days, months, and years. This simple story helps you practice speaking about routines and life changes with clear time words.
后年可以买 新房 。
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