"Home"
 

What are the different forms for house and how are they used?

Like.. My house, your house, and an honorific person's house. Formal and informal. Pretty much along those lines..

Thanks :o

what exactly ? Oo

家　　うち　uchi is my home, but can also refer to my family or even to yourself (used in some dialects). It implies more than just the building you live in, but your "home".

家 いえ ie is someone else's home.

お宅 otaku is an honorable way of referring to an individual or house.

These are not all black and white, and you will hear people say "uchi no ie" referring to their own house.

How long you been studying? You got a lot of knowledge under your belt. Whats your secret?

Not everyone here is still a student, you know.

I studied, lived there for a few years, taught Japanese for a few years, and now am a full-time translator.

WHOA!! SUGOI!!! I bow low to you MMM-Sama :pinkbow:

Let`s not forget 自宅 and 家庭, which are also "home" - just with different nuances.

The big reason I posted though is this -

家(うち) isn`t really just to refer to your own home - it`s used pretty normally to refer to other people`s homes too... And is pretty frequently shortened to んち from "のうち" in those cases.
For a child, お家 (おうち) is also the standard way of saying house.

That's a good point. But as a kid I always hated the way my friends called my house. Since my last name ends in 'chi', they called my house 'xxxxx chinchi'. Sorry, kinda off topic..

I wonder if this 'nchi' form is ever used in Kansai or west of Kansai. It's commonly used in the Eastern half of Japan including Tokyo and Nagoya.

Ahh, late reply. Thanks a bunch for the replies!