Learn Hardcore Chinese: Wǒ xiànzài zhù zài xuéxiào sùshè.

我住在学校宿舍。
→ “I live in the school dorm.”
This already implies a general, current fact.
我现在住在学校宿舍。
→ “Right now I live in the school dorm.”
This adds a sense of “at this point in time (as opposed to before / later)”.

So:

Grammatically, 现在 is optional here.
Adding 现在 often implies some contrast:
- Maybe you used to live somewhere else.
- Or you might move later.

If you just want to state where you live, 我住在学校宿舍 is perfectly fine. Use 我现在住在… when you want to emphasize “these days / currently.”

Why is 住 followed by 在? Can we just use 住 without 在?

住 (zhù) means “to live / reside / stay (somewhere)”.
When you mention the place, there are two common patterns:

住在 + place
- 我现在住在学校宿舍。
- 我住在北京。
  This is the most textbook-friendly, safe pattern: “to live at/in (a place).”
住 + place (no 在)
Often used with city/country names or short place words:
- 我住北京。
- 他住上海。
  This is also heard, especially in speech, but 住在 + place sounds more neutral and is always safe.

With a longer noun like 学校宿舍, most teachers will recommend:

✅ 我现在住在学校宿舍。 (very natural)
❓ 我现在住学校宿舍。 (understandable, but sounds less natural to many speakers)

So for learners, it’s a good rule to remember: > When you say where you live, use 住在 + place.

Is 在 here a verb (“to be at”) or a preposition (“at/in”)? How does that work with 住在?

In 我现在住在学校宿舍, 在 works more like a preposition meaning “at / in”, and it’s tightly linked to 住:

住在 functions like one unit: “to live at/in …”
学校宿舍 is the place.

So the structure is:

我（subject）+ 现在（time）+ 住在（verb phrase “live at”）+ 学校宿舍（place).

Compare:

在 as a main verb (to be located):
- 我在学校宿舍。
  → “I am at the school dorm.”
住在 as verb + preposition:
- 我住在学校宿舍。
  → “I live in the school dorm.”

Both are correct Chinese, but:

在 alone states location right now.
住在 states where you live / reside (more permanent or at least not just this moment).

Can we change the word order, like 我现在在学校宿舍住? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, you can say:

我现在在学校宿舍住。
我现在住在学校宿舍。

Both mean essentially: “I now live in the school dorm.”

They are two common patterns:

我现在住在学校宿舍。
- Focus is slightly more on the action of living.
- 住在 + place is kept together as a chunk.
我现在在学校宿舍住。
- Follows the often-taught pattern:
  Subject + (Time) + 在 + Place + Verb
- Slightly more focus on the place (at the dorm is where the living happens).

The difference is subtle; both sound natural. As a learner, you can safely use either, with 住在 + place being very standard.

Why doesn’t the sentence use 是, like 我现在是在学校宿舍?

In English we say “I am in the school dorm”, using “am”.
In Chinese, you do not normally use 是 to talk about location.

Instead, you either:

Use 在 as the main verb:
- 我现在在学校宿舍。
  → “I’m at the school dorm now.”
Use a verb like 住 for “live”:
- 我现在住在学校宿舍。
  → “I (currently) live in the school dorm.”

Using 我是…在学校宿舍 can appear in special emphasis structures, for example:

我是在学校宿舍住的。
→ “It is in the school dorm that I live.” (emphasising where you live)

So, for ordinary statements of where you are or live:

Use 在 (for location) or verbs like 住,
Not 是.

Why is there no 的 between 学校 and 宿舍? Shouldn’t it be 学校的宿舍?

Both are possible:

学校宿舍
学校的宿舍

的 marks a modifier/possessor, like “’s / of”:

学校的宿舍 = “the school’s dormitory”

However, in Chinese, 的 is often dropped when:

The relationship is very close or “natural”, and
The modifier + noun form a common, tight phrase.

Examples:

学校图书馆 (school library)
公司职员 (company staff)
中国人 (Chinese person)

学校宿舍 sounds like a set phrase: “school dorm(s)”, so 的 can be omitted.

Nuance:

学校宿舍: slightly more compact, like saying “school dorm(s)” as a concept.
学校的宿舍: stylistically a bit more explicit that the dorm belongs to the school.

In normal speech, 学校宿舍 is very natural, and that’s why it’s used here.

What’s the difference between 学校宿舍, 学校的宿舍, and just 宿舍?

宿舍 (sùshè)
= “dormitory / dorm,” in general.
Could be a factory dorm, company dorm, school dorm, etc.
学校宿舍
= “school dorm(s)” or “the dorm at/for a school.”
Implies the dormitory that belongs to a school, especially where students live.
学校的宿舍
= literally “the school’s dormitory.”
Same basic meaning as 学校宿舍; a bit more explicit, slightly more formal-sounding.

So:

If context already makes it clear you’re talking about the school’s dorm, you can just say 宿舍:
- 我现在住在宿舍。 (on campus, everyone knows which dorm)
If you want to be clear that it’s a school dorm, not some other dorm, say 学校宿舍 or 学校的宿舍.

Could I say 我现在住在学校宿舍里 with 里 at the end? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

我现在住在学校宿舍里。

里 (lǐ) means “inside / within”.

Differences:

我现在住在学校宿舍。
→ “I now live in the school dorm.” (already implies being in the dorm building)
我现在住在学校宿舍里。
→ Literally “I now live inside the school dorm.”
Often feels a bit more vivid or inside-focused, but in most contexts, the meaning is the same.

In many everyday sentences, adding or omitting 里 doesn’t change much:

在家 / 在家里
在房间 / 在房间里

Both versions are natural; use whichever you find easier.

Does 现在 make this sentence like English “I am living” (temporary) instead of “I live” (permanent)?

Chinese grammar doesn’t mark the same tense distinctions as English (simple vs continuous) with verb endings.

我现在住在学校宿舍 can mean:

“I live in the school dorm now.”
“I am living in the school dorm now.”

It does not by itself say whether this is:

A long-term permanent situation, or
A temporary arrangement.

That is decided by context. If you want to clearly show it’s temporary, you might add more words:

我现在住在学校宿舍，以后可能搬出去。
→ “I’m living in the school dorm now, but might move out later.”

For a very “ongoing right now” feeling (like “am currently in the process of doing”), Chinese often uses 在 / 正在 before the verb, but that’s not usually used with 住 because living is already an ongoing state.
So 我现在住在学校宿舍 is fine for both “live” and “am living.”

How would I say “I used to live in the school dorm” and “I will live in the school dorm”?

To talk about past and future, Chinese usually adds time words or modal verbs, not verb endings.

Past: “I used to live in the school dorm.”
- 我以前住在学校宿舍。
- 以前我住在学校宿舍。
  → 以前 / 过去 / 之前 etc. mean “before / in the past.”
If you want to stress the change, you can add something like:
- 我以前住在学校宿舍，现在住在外面。
  → “I used to live in the dorm, now I live off campus.”
Future: “I will live in the school dorm.”
- 我以后会住在学校宿舍。
- 我明年会住在学校宿舍。 (“I will live in the dorm next year.”)
- 我打算住在学校宿舍。 (“I plan to live in the dorm.”)

Common future markers:

会 (huì) – will, be likely to
要 / 打算 / 计划 – going to, plan to
Time words: 明年, 下学期, 以后 etc.

So the basic 住在学校宿舍 doesn’t change; you add time words and maybe 会 / 要 to show past or future.

Are there any special tone changes in 我现在住在学校宿舍? There are many 4th tones in a row.

Tones in the sentence (with tone numbers):

我 wǒ (3rd)
现在 xiànzài (4th, 4th)
住在 zhù zài (4th, 4th)
学校 xuéxiào (2nd, 4th)
宿舍 sùshè (4th, 4th)

Important points:

No special sandhi for chains of 4th tone (falling) syllables.
You say each 4th tone clearly as a falling tone.
The main sandhi rules you need to remember in Mandarin are:
- 3rd + 3rd → the first 3rd becomes a 2nd tone (e.g. 很好 hén hǎo).
- 一 (yī) and 不 (bù) change depending on the following tone.
  Neither of these applies here.
宿舍 is pronounced sùshè (4th, 4th).
- In this word, 舍 is shè (4th tone),
- It is shě (3rd tone) in other words like 舍不得 (shěbude).

So you can pronounce the sentence straightforwardly with the tones shown; there is no extra tone change rule you need to apply here.

Can I drop 我 or 现在 in casual speech?

Yes, Chinese often omits information that is clear from context.

Dropping 现在:
- If the time frame is already understood as “now”, you can just say:
  - 我住在学校宿舍。
- This is very natural and often what people say by default.
Dropping 我:
- If it’s super clear you’re talking about yourself (e.g., you’re answering “Where do you live?”), you might hear:
  - 现在住在学校宿舍。
- Or even just:
  - 住在学校宿舍。

In full, clear sentences for learners, it’s good to keep:

我现在住在学校宿舍。
But in real conversation, native speakers routinely drop subjects and time words when they’re obvious.