すむ (住む・済む): One Sound, Two Verbs (with Examples)
One sound, several kanji
Japanese has lots of homophones — words that sound identical but mean different things — and すむ is a classic N5 example. Say it out loud and there's no way to know which one you mean; the kanji is what carries the difference.
The good news: these two never really compete in real sentences, because they pair with totally different things. 住む wants a place (a city, a house, a country). 済む wants a matter (homework, an errand, a payment) that comes to an end. Once you notice what sits in front of すむ, picking the right one is almost automatic.
Both are intransitive Group 1 (う-)verbs, so they conjugate the same way: 住む → 住んで / 住まない / 住んだ, and 済む → 済んで / 済まない / 済んだ. The conjugation won't help you tell them apart — only the meaning and the kanji will.
The meanings, most common first
1. To live / reside (住む)
ヤッタンは東京に住んでいる。
ヤッタンは とうきょうに すんでいる。
Yattan lives in Tokyo.
KEY: the place takes に (not で), and the ongoing state of living is normally 住んでいる, not plain 住む.
2. To live somewhere new / start residing (住む)
モチは来月から大阪に住む。
モチは らいげつから おおさかに すむ。
Mochi will live in Osaka starting next month.
Plain 住む here points to the future move; for 'currently lives,' switch to 住んでいる.
3. To finish / be done (済む)
ヤッタンの宿題がやっと済んだ。
ヤッタンの しゅくだいが やっと すんだ。
Yattan's homework is finally done.
済む is intransitive — the homework 'gets finished,' so it takes が, not を.
4. To be over / be taken care of (用事が済む)
用事が済んだら、すぐ帰るよ。
ようじが すんだら、すぐ かえるよ。
Once my errands are taken care of, I'll head home right away.
用事が済む = the matters are settled / wrapped up.
5. To be settled with / get by with (お金で済む)
その問題はお金で済む。
その もんだいは おかねで すむ。
That problem can be settled with money.
〜で済む = 'it ends up only costing / requiring X' — the matter is closed by means of X.
6. To get away without having to (〜ないで済む) — N4
弟は薬を飲まないで済んだ。
おとうとは くすりを のまないで すんだ。
Yattan's little brother managed without having to take the medicine.
〜ないで済む = to end up not having to do something. A handy N4 pattern built on 済む.
Both verbs come straight from everyday life: 住む is where you are, 済む is when something is over. They never blur together because one always follows a place and the other always follows a matter that finishes.
Common collocations worth memorizing
Learn these as chunks and the right すむ will come out automatically:
| Collocation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 東京に住む | to live in Tokyo |
| 〜に住んでいる | to be living in (ongoing state) |
| 宿題が済む | the homework is finished |
| 用事が済む | the errands are taken care of |
| お金で済む | to be settled with money |
| 〜ないで済む | to get by without having to (do) |
| 済みません / すみません | excuse me / sorry / thank you |
Kanji & related verbs
Two kanji split the work cleanly:
- 住 ("to dwell, reside") writes 住む — to live somewhere. The same kanji shows up in 住所 (じゅうしょ, address) and 住人 (じゅうにん, resident).
- 済 ("to finish, settle") writes 済む — to be over / be settled. It also appears in 経済 (けいざい, economy) and the suffix 〜済み (e.g. 確認済み, "already confirmed").
There's also a transitive partner to watch for: 済ます／済ませる (すます／すませる, to finish something deliberately). 済む is intransitive ("it gets done"); 済ます is transitive ("I finish it"). 昼ご飯を済ませる = "I finish (eat) my lunch."
One lovely fact: the apology すみません comes from 済む. Literally it means "it isn't finished / it isn't settled" — that is, "this isn't settled on my part, I owe you." That's why すみません works both as "I'm sorry" and as "thank you" (for trouble someone went to). Seeing 済む inside すみません makes the word much easier to remember.
住む vs 済む — the homophone trap
Same sound, opposite worlds. The fastest test is what comes before すむ: a place means 住む; a matter that ends means 済む.
| Form | Core idea | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 住む (live / reside) | Where someone lives — takes a place with に, ongoing state is 住んでいる | 東京に住んでいる = (someone) lives in Tokyo |
| 済む (be finished / settled) | A task or matter comes to an end / is taken care of | 宿題が済む = the homework is finished |
A quick gut-check: if you can ask "where?", it's 住む (どこに住んでいますか = "where do you live?"). If you can ask "is it over yet?", it's 済む (もう済んだ？ = "is it done yet?"). And remember the particle clue — 住む leans on に for the place, while 済む usually has が marking the thing that finishes.
Quick recap
- 住む = to live / reside. Place takes に; the ongoing state is normally 住んでいる.
- 済む = to finish / be settled / be over. Intransitive, so the finished thing takes が.
- Both are intransitive Group 1 (う-)verbs: すんで / すまない / すんだ.
- すみません comes from 済む — "it isn't settled (on my part)."
- Useful patterns: お金で済む (settled with money), 〜ないで済む (get by without having to).
Your turn
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Start the 5-question drill →Frequently asked questions
Are 住む and 済む the same verb?
No — they only sound the same. 住む means to live / reside somewhere, and 済む means to finish / be settled. Both are intransitive Group 1 (う-)verbs with identical conjugation (すんで, すまない, すんだ), so the kanji and context are what tell them apart.
Why is it 東京に住む and not 東京で住む?
住む marks the place of residence with に, because it points to where you exist, not where an action happens. And for the ongoing state of living somewhere, Japanese normally uses 住んでいる: 東京に住んでいます = 'I live in Tokyo.'
Does すみません really come from 済む?
Yes. すみません is the negative of 済む — literally 'it isn't finished / settled (on my part).' That sense of an unsettled debt is why the same word covers both 'I'm sorry' and 'thank you (for the trouble).'
What is the difference between 済む and 済ます?
済む is intransitive — something gets finished on its own: 宿題が済んだ ('the homework is done'). 済ます (or 済ませる) is the transitive partner — you finish something deliberately: 宿題を済ませた ('I finished the homework').