wǒ zhù zài shí lóu, zhè lóu hěn ānjìng.

I live on the tenth floor; this building is very quiet.

Breakdown of wǒ zhù zài shí lóu, zhè lóu hěn ānjìng.

• 我wǒ: I
• 很hěn: very
• 这zhè: this
• 在zài: at
• 十shí: ten
• 住zhù: to live
• 安静ānjìng: quiet
• 楼lóu: floor
• 楼lóu: building

Questions & Answers about wǒ zhù zài shí lóu, zhè lóu hěn ānjìng.

Why do we say 住在 and not just 住?

住(zhù) means “to live / to reside.”

• 我住在十楼 literally = “I live at the tenth floor.”
• 在(zài) here is a location marker (“at / in / on”).

You can sometimes drop 在 and just say 我住十楼, but:

• 我住在十楼 is the standard, neutral way in modern Mandarin.
• 我住十楼 sounds more colloquial and is not as widely accepted in formal contexts.

So 住在 + place is the safe, textbook pattern:
subject + 住在 + location = “(someone) lives at (somewhere).”

Why is it 十楼 (shí lóu) and not something like “第十楼” or “第十层楼”?

All of these are possible, but they differ slightly:

• 十楼 – very common in everyday speech
  
  • Literally “ten floor” → understood as “the 10th floor.”
• 第十楼 – uses 第 to mark an ordinal number (“the tenth”)
  
  • Clear and explicit, but often not needed when talking about floors, because context already implies an order.
• 第十层楼 – more complete and formal
  
  • 层(céng) is a measure word for floors.
  • Literally “the 10th layer of building.”

In daily life, people usually just say 十楼 for “the 10th floor.”

Does 楼 (lóu) mean “building” or “floor” here?

楼 can mean both, depending on context:

1. In 十楼, it means “floor”:

   • 我住在十楼 = I live on the 10th floor.

2. In 这楼, it usually means “this building”:

   • 这楼很安静 = This building is very quiet.

So in one sentence, 楼 is used in two related but different senses:

• 十楼 → the 10th floor
• 这楼 → this building (the building whose 10th floor you live on)

Why is there no measure word in 这楼? Shouldn’t it be 这栋楼 or 这个楼?

Strictly speaking, the full form is:

• 这栋楼 (zhè dòng lóu) – “this building” (栋 is the usual measure word for buildings)

However, in informal spoken Chinese, it’s common to drop the measure word when the noun is very clear and concrete:

• 这楼很安静。 → colloquial, natural
• 这栋楼很安静。 → complete, also very natural
• 这个楼 is heard, but less standard; 栋 is preferred over 个 for buildings.

So:

• In conversation, 这楼 is fine.
• In careful or formal writing, 这栋楼 is safer.

Why do we use 很 (hěn) before 安静 (ānjìng)? Does it always mean “very”?

很 can mean “very”, but in sentences like this it often functions more like a linking adverb between a subject and an adjective:

• 这楼很安静。
  Literally: “This building very quiet.”
  Natural meaning: “This building is quiet / is quite quiet.”

Important points:

1. If you completely omit 很 in a simple descriptive sentence:

   • 这楼安静。
     This may sound more emphatic / contrastive, like “THIS building is quiet (unlike others).”

2. With 很:

   • 这楼很安静。
     Sounds like a neutral description (“is quiet”), not necessarily strongly “very quiet.”

So here, 很 is mostly helping the sentence sound natural and smooth. It doesn’t have to be interpreted as strongly “very.”

Why don’t we say 这楼是很安静 with 是 like in “is very quiet”?

In Chinese, adjectives can directly act like verbs:

• 楼很安静。 = “The building is quiet.”
  (No extra verb “to be” is required.)

Using 是 (shì) with adjectives is special:

• 这楼是很安静，但是……
  → “This building is indeed very quiet, but… (there’s some contrast / exception).”

Adding 是 before an adjective often adds emphasis or contrast, not just a neutral “is.”

So:

• Neutral statement: 这楼很安静。
• Emphatic / contrastive: 这楼是很安静，可是……

Why is the location expressed as 住在十楼 instead of “在十楼住”?

Both orders are grammatically possible, but they have different feels:

1. 我住在十楼。 (most common)

   • Structure: subject + 住在 + place
   • Default way to say “I live on the 10th floor.”
   • Focus is on where you live, overall neutral statement.

2. 我在十楼住。

   • Structure: subject + 在 + place + 住
   • Grammatically okay, but sounds less natural here and can feel slightly marked or emphatic, depending on context.

In everyday speech for residence, 住在 + place is the standard pattern.
Use 在 + place + verb more with activities:

• 我在十楼工作。= I work on the 10th floor.
• 我在家吃饭。= I eat at home.

Why is there a comma (，) in the middle instead of a period?

Chinese punctuation is a bit different from English:

• 我住在十楼，这楼很安静。

This is effectively two coordinate clauses:

1. I live on the 10th floor,
2. This building is very quiet.

In English, you would usually use a period or a semicolon. In Chinese, a comma can link two closely related statements in one sentence.

You could also write:

• 我住在十楼。这楼很安静。

Both are correct. The comma version just presents them as parts of the same larger thought.

Does 这楼很安静 mean “this floor” is quiet or “this building” is quiet?

Normally, 这楼 is understood as “this building”:

• 这楼很安静。 = “This building is very quiet.”

If you specifically meant “this floor”, you would normally say:

• 这一层很安静。
• 这层楼很安静。

Because 十楼 was just mentioned, context lets listeners understand that “this building” is the one whose 10th floor you live on.

Can I drop 我 (wǒ) and just say 住在十楼，这楼很安静?

In conversation, native speakers sometimes omit subjects when they are very obvious from context. For example, if you’ve just been asked:

• 你住在哪儿？(Where do you live?)

You might answer:

• 住在十楼，这楼很安静。

Here, 我 is understood.

However, as a learner, it’s safer to keep the subject:

• 我住在十楼，这楼很安静。

This is always correct and clear.

How is tense expressed here? How do we know it’s “I live on the 10th floor” and not “I lived / will live”?

Chinese doesn’t change the verb form for past / present / future.
住在十楼 just gives a state: “live at the 10th floor.”

The time is normally understood from:

• Context or earlier sentences
• Time words like 现在 (now), 以前 (before), 明年 (next year), etc.

So:

• 现在我住在十楼。= Now I live on the 10th floor.
• 以前我住在十楼。= I used to live on the 10th floor.
• 明年我住在十楼。= Next year I’ll be living on the 10th floor.

In your original sentence, the default reading in isolation is present:
“I live on the 10th floor; this building is very quiet.”