German Phrase
Ich wohne in Seoul.
Meaning
The sentence tells the listener where the speaker’s permanent residence is. It uses the present tense of ‘wohnen’ to express a stable, long‑term living situation, not a short visit.
When to use
Use this phrase when answering the question ‘Wo wohnst du?’ (Where do you live?), when introducing yourself in a new group, or whenever you need to state your city of residence in German.
✦Grammar Breakdown
IchwohneinSeoul
Ich (personal pronoun)
First‑person singular nominative pronoun, used as the subject of the sentence.
wohnen (regular verb)
A regular verb meaning ‘to live/reside’. In the present tense, 1st person singular ends with -e: ich wohne.
in (preposition for location)
When indicating a static location, ‘in’ governs the dative case. Here ‘Seoul’ stays unchanged because proper nouns of cities are indeclinable.
Seoul (proper noun)
The name of the capital of South Korea. In German it is written with a capital S and pronounced /zoːl/.
🗨In Conversation
Wo wohnst du?
Where do you live?
Ich wohne in Seoul.
I live in Seoul.
✕Common Mistakes
Ich bin wohnen in Seoul.
‘sein’ (bin) cannot be combined with the verb ‘wohnen’; use only ‘ich wohne’.
Ich wohne in den Seoul.
‘in’ with a static location takes the dative, not the accusative ‘den’. City names are indeclinable, so just ‘in Seoul’.
Ich wohne bei Seoul.
‘bei’ means ‘by/near’ and is not used to indicate the city you live in.
↔Alternatives
Ich lebe in Seoul.
I live in Seoul.
Mein Wohnort ist Seoul.
My place of residence is Seoul.
Ich bin in Seoul ansässig.
I am based in Seoul.
Cultural Tip
In German conversation it’s common to add the district or neighbourhood if you want to be more specific (e.g., ‘Ich wohne im Stadtteil Gangnam, Seoul.’). ‘Wohnen’ implies a permanent home; for a short stay you would say ‘Ich bin gerade in Seoul’ or ‘Ich halte mich in Seoul auf.’