n.
hometown; native place
老家
Common Usage & Traps
- 回老家 — go back to one's hometown
- 老家在…… — one's hometown is in...
- 老家是…… — one's hometown is...
- 老家的人 — people from one's hometown
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去老家 (for your own hometown)回老家For your own hometown, 回老家 is the natural choice. 去老家 sounds like you are visiting a place that is not your home base.
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我的老家是上海人我的老家是上海 / 我是上海人老家 is a place, not a person. Mixing the two creates a place-is-a-person sentence.
Should you say 她的老家在上海 or 她的老家是上海?
Both work, but 是 names the hometown and 在 locates it.
是 identifies something by name. 在 points to a physical location. If someone asks 你老家在哪儿, you can answer 我老家是上海 or 我老家在上海. The first sounds like a label; the second sounds like a dot on a map. “她的老家是上海。” (Her hometown is Shanghai.) ── [《去上海》](/read/train-or-plane-to-shanghai#s3)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Naming the hometown | 她的老家是上海。 | Assuming 在 is the only correct option. |
| Locating the hometown | 她的老家在上海。 | Assuming 是 is the only correct option. |
| Focus | 是 names it; 在 locates it. | Treating the two as identical. |
Can you say 去老家 for your own hometown, or does it have to be 回老家?
Your own hometown takes 回; 去老家 sounds like visiting someone else's.
回老家 is the default when you go back to your parents' place or original home. 去老家 is not always wrong, but it sounds like you are heading to a place that is not your home base. If it is a friend's hometown, 去他老家 is fine.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Your own hometown | 我明天回老家。 | 我明天去老家。 |
| Someone else's hometown | 我想去他老家看看。 | 我想回他老家看看。 |
| Holiday visit | 春节回老家看爸妈。 | 春节去老家看爸妈。 (less natural for your own) |
Is your 老家 the city where you were born?
Not always; 老家 is your family roots, often your parents' or grandparents' home.
If you were born in Beijing but your parents are from Sichuan, your 老家 is likely Sichuan. Chinese people often ask 你老家是哪儿的 to find your family origin. It is not the same as your birth city or current address.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Family roots | 我老家是四川，虽然我在北京出生。 | 我出生在北京，所以我老家是北京。 (if parents are from elsewhere) |
| Asking about origin | 你老家是哪儿的？ | 你出生在哪儿？ (a different question) |
| Returning for holidays | 春节回老家。 | 春节回出生地。 (unless that is the family home) |
Featured in Story Deep Dive
Follow how this word unfolds across the narrative arc of this graded story.
Meet Xiao Shang, who is heading back to Shanghai. She compares two ways to travel and tells us why she prefers the slower one. This story helps you practice comparing transportation in simple Chinese.
- Scene #1
她的 老家 是上海。
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