Tôi sống ở khu này.

Yes. Tôi means I and is a common, neutral way to say I in Vietnamese.

A useful thing to know is that Vietnamese pronouns depend a lot on relationship, age, and social context. So while tôi is safe and polite in many situations, native speakers often use other words for I in everyday conversation, such as family-style pronouns.

In a textbook sentence, tôi is very common because it is clear and neutral.

Here, sống means to live in the sense of to reside or to have one’s life somewhere.

It can also mean to be alive, so context matters. In this sentence, because it is followed by a place expression—ở khu này—the meaning is clearly live/reside.

So:

• sống = live
• in context: live in this area

Ở is a very common word used for location, often meaning at, in, or stay/live at depending on context.

In Tôi sống ở khu này, ở introduces the place:

• sống = live
• ở khu này = in this area

So the structure is basically:

tôi + sống + ở + place
= I live in + place

Vietnamese often uses ở with location phrases very naturally, even after verbs where English might not think of it as a separate word.

Khu means something like area, zone, district section, or part of a place. It is a somewhat broad word.

So khu này means:

• this area
• this neighborhood
• this part of town

The exact English translation depends on context. Neighborhood can be a good natural translation in many cases, but khu is not always exactly the same as the English word neighborhood.

That is a very important Vietnamese word-order pattern.

In Vietnamese, demonstratives like this, that, and those usually come after the noun.

So:

• khu này = this area
• literally: area this

More examples:

• nhà này = this house
• người đó = that person
• xe kia = that car over there

So the position of này after the noun is completely normal in Vietnamese.

Yes:

• Tôi = I
• sống = live
• ở = at/in
• khu này = this area

So the full structure is:

Tôi / sống / ở / khu này.
I / live / in / this area.

That is a very standard Vietnamese sentence pattern: subject + verb + location

Yes, you can, and it is very natural.

Difference:

• Tôi sống ở khu này = I live in this area
  
  • slightly more explicit about residence/living
• Tôi ở khu này = I’m in this area / I stay in this area / I live in this area
  
  • depends on context

In casual speech, ở alone often covers the idea of living somewhere. But sống ở can sound a little more precise when you specifically mean reside.

Vietnamese grammar works differently from English. You do not translate word-for-word.

In this sentence:

• sống is the verb to live
• there is no need for a separate verb like am

So:

• English: I live in this area
• Vietnamese: Tôi sống ở khu này

Vietnamese does have words that can correspond to to be in some situations, but they are not used the same way English uses am/is/are.

A rough guide:

• tôi: sounds a bit like toy, but not exactly
• sống: roughly song with the ng sound at the end, plus its tone
• ở: a short vowel sound with a tone; this word is tricky for English speakers
• khu: roughly like khoo
• này: roughly like nye or nai depending on accent, with its tone

The tones matter a lot:

• tôi has a mid-level tone
• sống has the sắc tone shape on this vowel pattern
• ở has the hỏi tone
• này has the huyền tone

A learner should especially pay attention to:

• sống vs other similar syllables with different tones
• ở, because both its vowel and tone can be difficult
• này, because final position does not remove the tone

It is mostly neutral.

Why:

• tôi is a neutral, polite pronoun
• the sentence structure is standard and natural
• it does not sound especially formal or slangy

In real life, native speakers might choose a different pronoun depending on who they are talking to, but the sentence itself is perfectly normal and useful.

Yes. You can say:

Tôi sống ở đây.
= I live here.

The difference is:

• khu này = this area/neighborhood
• đây = here

So:

• Tôi sống ở khu này points to a specific area
• Tôi sống ở đây is a little shorter and more general

Both are natural.

Not always, but very often.

With locations, ở is extremely common and important. In sentences about being, staying, or living somewhere, it often appears naturally before the place.

For example:

• Tôi ở nhà. = I’m at home.
• Cô ấy sống ở Hà Nội. = She lives in Hanoi.

So in this sentence, ở is the normal and expected choice before khu này.

Probably these three:

1. Vietnamese word order is straightforward:
   subject + verb + place

2. Location is often introduced by ở

3. Demonstratives come after the noun:
   khu này = this area, not this khu

If you remember those three things, this sentence becomes a very useful model for making many others:

• Tôi học ở trường này. = I study at this school.
• Tôi làm việc ở thành phố này. = I work in this city.
• Tôi ở nhà này. = I stay in this house.