老家 lǎojiā native place
native place; place of origin; home state or region
How to remember 老家: 老 old + 家 home = native place.
Characters
How it is used
- Refers to someone's hometown or ancestral home - where their family is originally from, not necessarily where they were born or grew up.
- 我老家在四川 (wǒ lǎojiā zài Sìchuān) - my hometown/family roots are in Sichuan.
- Colloquial and warm in tone, often used when asking someone about their roots: 你老家是哪儿的？
- Compare with 家乡 (jiāxiāng), a more formal/literary word for hometown used in writing and speeches - 老家 is what you'd say in daily conversation.
Example sentences
- 他住得离老家很远。 Tā zhù de lí lǎojiā hěn yuǎn.He lives far away from his hometown.