Breakdown of tā zhù zài zhè gè chéngshì de nán bian.
Used when counting nouns or when specifying a specific instance of a noun.
There are also classifiers for people, for bound items such as books and magazines, for cups/glasses, etc.
The classifier 个 is a general one that can be used for any of these.
Questions & Answers about tā zhù zài zhè gè chéngshì de nán bian.
住在 + place is the most common and natural pattern to say “live at/in …”.
- 他住在这个城市的南边。 – fully natural.
- Without 在, 他住这个城市的南边 sounds odd or at least very colloquial/marked.
You can drop 在 with some short place words, especially pronouns:
- 他住这儿。 – He lives here.
- 他们住楼上。 – They live upstairs.
But with a longer, more complex place phrase like 这个城市的南边, native speakers normally keep 在. So here, you should treat 住在 as a fixed pattern: 住在 + 地方 (“live at + place”).
个 is the measure word (classifier) for 这.
- 这 + 个 + (noun) is the standard pattern:
这个城市 – this city
You can say 这城市 in casual spoken Chinese; it sounds more informal and a bit “compressed”. In writing and in standard speech, 这个城市 is safer and more neutral.
So:
- Standard: 他住在这个城市的南边。
- Colloquial: 他住在这城市的南边。
Both are understandable; the first is more textbook‑correct.