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#1
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| I had a question about the specific use of 'home' and 'at home'. This is what I've discovered over the years: - When your homestead is your destination or the starting point of a "journey", you use 'home', as in "Jack's coming home from military school today" or as in "Jill's daughter left home at the age of 19" - When talking about your home as a specific location you use 'at home', as in: "Oh, I forgot my school-bag at home!" or as in "My parents aren't at home all day today, they're both at work" - Then there still are some of the expressions with 'home' and 'at home' "Home is where the heart is" "Make yourself at home" "I don't really feel at home here" etc... But especially with the second rule, I still have a bit of trouble. Can you also say: "They weren't home" rather than "They weren't at home"? Because I could swear I've heard that many a time. And if so, why is that and in what sorts of situations can I use it? If there are some more ground rules for the use of 'home' and 'at home', I would very much like to know them. Thanks in advance |
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#2
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| Quote:
"At" is a preposition used before the noun and after the verb requiring direction. But we do not need a preposition with home when it is used with any verb referring to direction, as below:
Will you be at home tonight or are you going out? ~ No, I'll be at home. |
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#3
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| Thanks sarat_106, I just have one more question: is the movie title "Home Alone" a grammatical mistake, then? Or is the omission of the preposition 'at' here more common in colloquial (American) English? |
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#4
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| Yes, it is permissible |
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