L’immeuble dans lequel j’habite est près de la station de métro.

Because immeuble begins with a vowel sound, so le contracts to l’ in French.

• le immeuble → incorrect
• l’immeuble → correct

This happens with both le and la before a vowel or silent h:

• l’école
• l’hôtel
• l’amie

Also, immeuble is a masculine noun, so the full article would be le.

Immeuble usually means a building, especially a building with apartments or offices in it.

In this sentence, it most naturally suggests the building I live in, so English might translate it as:

• the building
• the apartment building
• sometimes the block of flats in British English, depending on context

It does not mean apartment.
For apartment, French usually uses appartement.

Yes — and in everyday French, où is often more natural.

So these are both possible:

• L’immeuble dans lequel j’habite...
• L’immeuble où j’habite...

Why use dans lequel?

Because the verb habiter here is understood with the idea of living in the building, so French can explicitly keep the preposition dans and then use lequel to refer back to immeuble.

• dans = in
• lequel = which

So dans lequel literally means in which.

This structure is a bit more formal or written than où.

Lequel is a relative pronoun meaning which after a preposition.

In dans lequel:

• dans = in
• lequel = which one / which

It agrees with the noun it refers to.
Here it refers to l’immeuble, which is masculine singular, so we use lequel.

The forms are:

• lequel = masculine singular
• laquelle = feminine singular
• lesquels = masculine plural
• lesquelles = feminine plural

Examples:

• la maison dans laquelle j’habite = the house in which I live
• les immeubles dans lesquels ils habitent = the buildings in which they live

Because je becomes j’ before a vowel or silent h.

So:

• je habite → incorrect
• j’habite → correct

This is very common in French:

• j’aime
• j’ai
• j’écoute
• j’habite

Because j’ means I, and the verb habiter must match the subject.

Present tense of habiter:

• j’habite = I live
• tu habites = you live
• il/elle habite = he/she lives
• nous habitons = we live
• vous habitez = you live
• ils/elles habitent = they live

So with je / j’, the correct form is habite.

Because près is normally followed by de in French.

So:

• près de = near
• loin de = far from

Examples:

• près de la gare
• près de chez moi
• près du parc

Since station is feminine singular, de + la station stays de la station.

So:

• près la station → incorrect
• près de la station → correct

Because station de métro means metro station as a type of place.

Here, de métro works like a label or category:

• une station de métro = a metro station
• une salle de bain = a bathroom
• une tasse de thé = a cup of tea

If you said station du métro, it would usually sound more specific, like the station of the metro or the metro’s station, which is not the normal way to say metro station in French.

So station de métro is the standard expression.

Yes. Dans lequel sounds more formal, careful, or written.

Compare:

• L’immeuble où j’habite... → very natural, common
• L’immeuble dans lequel j’habite... → more formal, more explicit

Both are correct.
If you are speaking casually, many native speakers would probably prefer où.

A careful pronunciation would be approximately:

lee-meub-luh dahn luh-kel zha-beet

A few useful notes:

• L’immeuble: the l’ links straight into immeuble
• dans: the -ans is nasal
• lequel: sounds roughly like luh-kel
• j’habite: the j’ sounds like the s in measure
• the h in habite is silent

Also, in natural speech, words link together smoothly, so the whole phrase flows rather than being pronounced word by word.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• près de = near
• à côté de = next to / beside

So:

• près de la station de métro means the building is near the station
• à côté de la station de métro means it is right next to the station

So they are not always interchangeable. À côté de is more specific.

The structure is:

L’immeuble

• dans lequel j’habite
• est près de la station de métro

So:

1. L’immeuble = the building
2. dans lequel j’habite = in which I live
3. est près de la station de métro = is near the metro station

This is a common French pattern:

noun + relative clause + main verb

Another example:

• La maison dans laquelle il vit est ancienne.
• The house in which he lives is old.

So the middle part gives extra information about l’immeuble.