Je vis dans un appartement.

I live in an apartment.

Breakdown of Je vis dans un appartement.

• je: I
• dans: in
• vivre: to live
• l'appartement: the apartment

Questions & Answers about Je vis dans un appartement.

Why do we say Je vis instead of J'habite?

Je vis comes from the verb vivre, which generally means "to live" in a broad sense (being alive, experiencing life). J'habite comes from habiter, which focuses more on residing in or inhabiting a place. Both forms are correct in French to express that you live somewhere, but Je vis can emphasize the state or experience of living, while J'habite is more specifically about where you reside.

Why is the preposition dans used here instead of en?

The preposition dans means "inside" or "in the interior of something." Saying Je vis dans un appartement stresses being inside the apartment. The preposition en can also mean "in," but it often indicates location in a broader sense, or sometimes refers to a duration or an abstract concept (e.g., en France for "in France"). Dans is generally better when you want to emphasize being physically inside a place like an apartment.

Why is it un appartement and not une appartement?

In French, appartement is a masculine noun, so we use the masculine article un. Nouns in French have grammatical genders, and there's often no simple rule to guess them—it's usually something you have to memorize or learn through practice.

Why is it spelled appartement instead of appartment?

Even though the English word "apartment" has one "p" and one "r," the French word appartement has two "p"s and one "r." French vocabulary and spelling follow different conventions, and this is just one of many words that differ from their English counterparts.

Should I always write Je instead of J' in front of verbs?

You use J' (the contracted form of Je) before a verb that begins with a vowel sound (e.g., J'aime, J'habite). Since vis starts with the consonant "v" sound, you do not contract Je and therefore write Je vis.