Every Japanese learner sooner or later asks: What’s the difference between いえ and うち? Both mean “home/house” and both can be written as 家… so which one do I use?!
Let’s settle it once and for all.
🏡 いえ ie → The physical building or someone’s house (neutral & a bit formal).
- いえが大きいです。 → The house is big.
- 隣のいえは古いです。 → The neighbour’s house is old.
🏡☕️🐈 うち uchi → My home with all the warm, personal, emotional vibes. It’s “where my heart is” + “my people”.
- うちに猫がいます。 → There’s a cat at my place / We have a cat.
- 早くうちに帰りたい～ → I wanna go home faster.
- うちは３人家族です。 → There are three people in my family.
Bonus super-power of うち: It also means “my group / my side”:
- うちの会社 → the company I work for (literally “my home company”)
- うちの学校 → my school
- うちの旦那 → my husband (yes, wives really say that!)
Classic real-life example: うちは大丈夫だけど、隣のいえは浸水したみたい。 → My house is fine, but the neighbour’s house seems flooded.
And yes, this is exactly where the famous Japanese concept うち・そと (uchi-soto) – “inside” vs “outside” (us vs them) can be seen. Your family, colleagues, classmates are うち (in-group), and clients and strangers are referred to as そと (out-group).
Other fancy words for “house/home” (just to brag): 家屋 かおく │ 住宅 じゅうたく │ 自宅 じたく │ 住居 じゅうきょ │ お住まい おすまい etc.
I wanted to write a short post… and accidentally opened a portal to the whole world of UCHI😂
Which one do you use more often — いえ or うち?