Learn Hardcore Russian: Я живу во втором доме.

before words starting with вт-, фл-, вс- etc.:
во втором, во флаконе, во всём
before some words starting with в where в в- would be hard to pronounce:
во время instead of в время

So в втором is theoretically understandable but sounds awkward; во втором is the normal, natural form.

What case is во втором доме, and why is that case used?

Both втором and доме are in the prepositional case singular.

The preposition в / во with the meaning “inside / at a location” is followed by prepositional:
- в доме – in the house
- в школе – at school
- в городе – in the city

This sentence describes where someone lives (location, not movement), so you need the prepositional case: во втором доме.

Why is it втором and not второй?

Второй is the nominative masculine singular form of the ordinal number “second”.
In Russian, ordinal numbers behave like adjectives and must match the noun in gender, number, and case.

дом is:
- masculine
- singular
- here: prepositional case (because of в with location)

So второй дом (nominative) becomes во втором доме (prepositional).
Both the adjective (втором) and the noun (доме) take prepositional endings.

Why is it доме and not дом or дома?

Дом is the basic (nominative) form: “house”.

Its main singular forms are:

Nominative: дом – the house (subject)
Genitive: дома – of the house
Dative: дому – to the house
Accusative: дом – (I see) the house
Instrumental: домом – with/by the house
Prepositional: доме – in/about the house

After в / во meaning “inside / at”, you use the prepositional: в доме, во втором доме.

Note: дома (without a preposition) also means the adverb “at home”, which can be confusing:

Я дома. – I am at home.
Я в доме. – I am in the house (in a specific building).

What’s the difference between в доме and в дом?

в доме (prepositional case) = location: “in the house”
- Я живу в доме. – I live in the house.
- Он сидит в доме. – He is sitting in the house.
в дом (accusative case) = direction / movement into:
- Я вошёл в дом. – I went into the house.
- Мы зашли в дом. – We came into the house.

So Я живу в дом is wrong, because living is a state, not movement into a place.

Why is the verb живу? How does жить conjugate?

The infinitive is жить – “to live (reside)”. It’s an irregular-looking but very common verb.

Present tense:

я живу́ – I live
ты живёшь – you live (sg., informal)
он / она / оно живёт – he / she / it lives
мы живём – we live
вы живёте – you live (pl. / formal)
они живу́т – they live

So with я you must use живу́: Я живу́ во втором доме.

Can I drop я and just say Живу во втором доме?

Yes. Russian often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

Я живу во втором доме. – neutral, explicit “I”.
Живу во втором доме. – also correct; sounds a bit more informal or contextual, e.g. when answering:
- Где ты живёшь? – Where do you live?
  Живу во втором доме. – (I) live in the second house.

Both are normal; including я is slightly more explicit or neutral.

Can I change the word order? For example: Во втором доме я живу?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible. Different orders change emphasis, not basic meaning.

Some possibilities:

Я живу во втором доме. – neutral.
Во втором доме я живу. – emphasis on во втором доме (“It’s in the second house that I live.”).
Живу я во втором доме. – can sound more expressive, storytelling, or poetic.

For everyday neutral speech, Я живу во втором доме is the most typical.

Does дом here mean “house” or “home”?

Дом primarily means a building where people live: “house”, “apartment block”, “residential building”.

Depending on context:

Я живу в этом доме. – I live in this building/house.
Я иду домой. – I’m going (to) home. (Here дом forms домой, “homeward”.)
Дома (adverb) – “at home”.

In your sentence дом is a specific building: во втором доме = in the second house/building, not the abstract idea of “home”.

Why is it во втором доме, not something with на, like на доме?

With дом and most enclosed buildings, you use в for “in / inside”:

в доме – in the house (inside it)
в магазине – in the shop
в школе – at school (inside the building)

На is used with:

surfaces: на столе – on the table
open areas: на площади – on the square
certain nouns by convention: на улице (in the street), на работе (at work)

На доме would literally mean “on the house” (on the roof / on top of it), not “in the house”. For living inside a building, you say в доме.

Why use an ordinal number (втором) instead of a cardinal number (like “дом номер два”)?

Russian often uses ordinal numbers as adjectives before nouns to show an ordered position:

первый дом – the first house
второй дом – the second house
во втором доме – in the second house

You can also say:

в доме номер два – in house number two

Difference in nuance:

во втором доме – “in the second house” in some ordered row or small set.
в доме номер два – sounds more like an official address / building number.

Both are correct; context decides which sounds more natural.

Do втором and доме always take the same case after a number like this?

With ordinal numbers (первый, второй, третий, etc.), both the ordinal and the noun behave like an adjective + noun pair. They agree in:

gender
number
case

So:

Nom.: второй дом
Prep.: во втором доме
Dat.: ко второму дому, etc.

This is different from many cardinal numbers (два, три, четыре…), which can cause special case patterns. But with второй, третий, etc., you just treat them like normal adjectives.

How should I pronounce Я живу во втором доме correctly?

Key points:

Stress:
- Я живу́ во втором до́ме.
Linking sounds:
- во втором is pronounced smoothly: [va fta-rom], the two в’s blend.
Soft м
- е in доме: до́ме sounds like DOH-mye, not “dom-ee”.

Rough transliteration: Ya zhivú va vtoróm dómye.