有人住這件事
這一族看的是畫面裡抽象的那一半：有沒有人在這裡過日子。問題可以由一個健行的人來問，也可以由一個拿著檢查表的人來問。
noun · C1
The fact that people live, or have lived, in a place. You use it when the question is whether anyone is there at all, not who is there. In this meaning it is uncountable.
居住
核心畫面
Picture people living in a place: smoke rising, a light on after dark, a path worn into the grass. Hold that one picture two ways. Look at the living itself and you get the uncountable meaning — is anyone here at all? Look at what they live in and you get the countable one — the house, the hut, the dwelling. The official phrase unfit for human habitation stands between the two and asks whether living here is possible.
可以想成這樣一幅畫面：有人在這裡過日子。炊煙、天黑後亮著的燈、草地上被踩出來的小路。同一幅畫面可以看兩邊。看「住」這…更多收起
可以想成這樣一幅畫面：有人在這裡過日子。炊煙、天黑後亮著的燈、草地上被踩出來的小路。同一幅畫面可以看兩邊。看「住」這件事，就是不可數的意思：這裡到底有沒有人。看「住的那個東西」，就是可數的意思：房子、小屋、住處。而 unfit for human habitation 這句官方說法站在中間，問的正是：這裡還能不能住人。From the word’s history
Habitation comes through Middle English habitacioun and Old French habitacion from Latin habitātiō, 'the act of dwelling'. The starting point is the living, not the building — which is why the uncountable meaning sits at the centre.
habitation 經中古英文 habitacioun、古法文 habitacion，來自拉丁文 habitātiō，原意就是「居住這件事」。起點是「住」，不是「房子」——這也是為什麼不可數的那個意思坐在中間。同一條線上還有 inhabit 和 inhabitant。
Wiktionary entry 'habitation' (Middle English habitacioun < Old French habitacion < Latin habitātiō), supplied in this evidence packet as kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:645883329.
Two branches
住的那個地方
把鏡頭從「住」移到「住的那個東西」：還是同一幅畫面，只是焦點落在房子上。焦點一換，文法也跟著換——這時它可以數了。
noun · C1
A place where a person lives — a house, a hut, or any building used as a home. This use is countable, and it sounds formal or old.
住處