phauna wrote:

A Japanese lady told me that when it is is written in kanji form, the Japanese always mean ie, a house.  However when they write it as uchi in hiragana, they mean your home.  So if it's a kanji then it's ie, and hiragana, it's uchi.

Looking at the entries in Kenkyusha, it looks like this is correct. There is one entry for いえ and one entry for うち. The entry for いえ uses kanji in every example sentence. The entry for うち uses hiragana in every single example sentence. Here's some of the entry for うち:

うち2【家】 (uchi)

〔住宅〕 a house; 〔自宅〕 one's house; 〔わが家〕 my [our] house; 〔家庭〕 a home; a household; 〔家族〕 a [one's] family; 〔配偶者〕 one's husband [wife]. [⇒いえ1]

うちが貧しかったから苦労した. Life was hard, because we were [my family was] so poor.

・うちが遠いからもう帰ります. I've a long way to go home [It's a long way to my house], so I'll leave now.

・おうちがだんだん遠くなる. We are getting farther and farther away from home.

・うちが(＝夫が)申しておりました. It was my husband that [My husband] said so.

うちで遊ぶ play indoors [inside, in the house]

・うちで食事をする eat in [at home]

・うちで着るにはきれいすぎる. That is too pretty to wear around the house.

・このお菓子はおいしいからよそにお裾分けしないでうちで食べてしまおう. These cakes are delicious; let's eat them all ourselves, without sharing them with anyone.

うちにいる 〔在宅している〕 be at home; be in

・だれかうちにいるか? (Is) anybody home?

・(ずっと)うちにいる stay [be] at home [in the house]; 〔外出しないで〕 stay [be always] at home; stay at home [in the house]; never [hardly ever] leave the house; 〔勤めないで〕 do not go to work [have a job]; 〔独立しないで〕 stay [be still] at home; still live at home [with one's parents]

・娘は結婚しないでいつまでもうちにいるつもりらしい. It looks as if our daughter intends never to get married, but to stay at home for ever.

・うちにいない 〔在宅していない〕 be away from home; be out

・うちに入る go into [《文》 enter] the house; 〔家族になる〕 join [become a member of] the family

・うちに帰る go [come, return] home; go [come] back (to one's) home

・うちに帰るバス代がなかった. I didn't have the bus fare home.

・(稼いだ金を)うちに入れる 〔全額〕 put everything into the family budget; 〔一定額〕 contribute 《10,000 yen a month》 to the household expenses

・夫は最近給料を少しもうちに入れてくれない. Lately my husband doesn't put a cent of his pay into the household budget.

・「次郎, すこしは働いてうちに入れてくれなくては困るわ」と彼女は言った. ?Jir,? she said, ?you've got to start earning a bit to bring home to your mother.?

・彼はうちに閉じこもってばかりいる. He never goes out (of the house). | He stays at home all the time. | He's a regular stay-at-home.

・当分うちに置いてやろう. He can stay (here) with us for a while.

・猫がうちに居着いてしまった. The cat made himself at home at our house.

・ちょっと失礼してうちに電話してきます. Excuse me a minute; I'm going to call home.

・きょうは帰りが遅くなるとうちには言ってある. I've told my wife [parents, husband, family] that I'll be home late tonight.

So, the general consensus is that you write 家　（いえ） for someone else's house, and うち for your own house? So, any time 家 comes up it is always いえ unless in a compound? (within reason, I am sure there are exceptions)


Thanks a ton! I have wondered this for a long time..

skylarth wrote:

So, the general consensus is that you write 家　（いえ） for someone else's house, and うち for your own house? So, any time 家 comes up it is always いえ unless in a compound? (within reason, I am sure there are exceptions)

The answer to your second question is yes. The answer to your first question is no. You can refer to your own house using the word いえ. It merely refers to the building rather than the concept of 'your own home'. いえ is more neutral because it doesn't carry the concept of social groupings that I mentioned in the previous post.

Last edited by wrightak (2008 June 15, 9:41 pm)