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Currently I'm living in an apartment with some roommates. In this case how can I say when I'm asked about my room?

I'm living in a sharing apartment.
I'm sharing an apartment.

Which one is better? Or is there more naturally expression for it?

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    What about "shared-apartment" or "shared-flat"?
    – Cardinal
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 16:05
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    Never "a sharing apartment." You could say "shared apartment," but "I'm sharing an apartment" still seems to me the most direct (and best) way to say what you mean.
    – David K
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 16:06

3 Answers 3

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In the US you would say something like one of the following:

I'm sharing an apartment

I'm living with roommates.

I'm sharing an apartment with three roommates.

I have roommates.

I have three roommates.

I'm renting an apartment with my roommates

I'm renting an apartment with three other people.

I don't normally hear the expression "shared-apartment" -- but it's been a while since I've been in that situation so it might be more common now. Either way, it would be understood.

There might also be different expressions between places like New York City or San Francisco.

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  • I have always found a little weird that the word "roommate" is routinely used to mean "person I share a flat with", not "person I share a room with"...
    – Federico Poloni
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 21:35
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    The term "Shared apartment" is common in the UK. It usually means rented accommodation that is designed to be shared by individual renters, not to a group of people who get together to rent a single large apartment and then share it between themselves.
    – alephzero
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 23:48
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    In the US, "shared apartment" is very uncommon. You'll get your point across, and people probably won't think twice about it, but US native speakers practically dont say this.
    – NMJD
    Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 2:26
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You can usually make two kinds of participle from a verb: active and passive. In English, these functions are performed by the present participle -ing and the past participle -ed. Here are two examples:

sharing - active - what somebody is doing
shared - passive - what is being done to something.

If the participle describes what you are doing, you use an active participle:

I am sharing an apartment

If the participle describes the apartment, you use a passive participle:

I am living in a shared apartment.

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To say you are living with other people at the same location

I'm sharing an apartment/flat (with roommates). (Are/BrE)
I'm living in a shared apartment/flat. (AmE/BrE)
I'm living in shared accommodations. (BrE)
I'm in a flat/apartment with some other people. (BrE/AmE)

apartment (AmE) = flat (BrE)

I'm living in a sharing apartment.

is not really said. If you are staying at a friend's temporarily, you might say

I'm sleeping on a friend's couch (until I can find my own place).

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    +1, although we could say "I'm living now in a sharing situation".
    – TimR
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 19:19
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    @TRomano Yes, that works, but you may need to be careful with the context, because "situation" is so nonspecific, people may think you're trying to "hide something". They may quite naturally think: "Sharing what?". Friends with "benefits"? Sharing is caring!
    – Peter
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 19:51
  • I agree that situation is nonspecific, but it's so nonspecific that it takes on the color of its surroundings. "He's dealing with a living situation" suggests some pickle or difficulty, because of "dealing with"; but "He doesn't have his own apartment but is in a sharing situation" would be understood to mean that he is sharing the apartment with one or more co-renters. He might be sleeping on the couch or in a sleeping bag on the living room floor, or he might have his own private bedroom and private bath and share the kitchen and common area.
    – TimR
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 20:11
  • @TRomano While I agree with your reason, I think it's still better to avoid potential misunderstanding. :)
    – Widi Widiyanto
    Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 1:12

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