I came to repair your pipes, but no one was home

[milan2003_07]

Good afternoon everyone,

The sentence below is from the Student's Book "Speakout", 3rd edition:

Situation: "I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was home".

Shouldn't we say "No one was at home"?

Regards,

 

[jutfrank]

No.

 

[milan2003_07]

OK. What's the difference between

"I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was home"
and
"I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was at home"?

Do you mean saying "at home" is incorrect? I don't think so because I've heard it used many times before like and I've also used it with native-speakers, for example, "I'm at home now". Maybe, we can also say "I will be at home at around 7:30 PM so you can come and visit us".

Could you explain please?

 

[5jj]

OK. What's the difference between

"I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was home"
and
"I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was at home"?

There is no difference in meaning.

 

[Skrej]

OK. What's the difference between

"I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was home"
and
"I’m your plumber. I came to repair your pipes, but no one was at home"?

Do you mean saying "at home" is incorrect? I don't think so because I've heard it used many times before like and I've also used it with native-speakers, for example, "I'm at home now".

It's not incorrect, it's just not strictly necessary.

Maybe, we can also say "I will be at home at around 7:30 PM so you can come and visit us".
Could you explain please?

I wouldn't use it here, though. It just sounds very unnatural - partially because of the repetition of 'at' so close together. You'd need to drop at least one of the 'ats'.

 

[jutfrank]

Do you mean saying "at home" is incorrect?

I wouldn't use the word 'incorrect' but I would say it's preferable not to use 'at' in this case.

It's idiomatic not to use the preposition 'at' in phrases involving negation:

There was nobody home.
No one was home.

"I'm at home now".

That's good. You ought to use the preposition here. The meaning is simply that your house is your current location. The preposition 'at' is a simple expression of location.

Without the preposition the meaning is slightly different:

I'm home now.

The interpretation here is likely that you have returned to your house in the recent past.

Maybe, we can also say "I will be at home at around 7:30 PM so you can come and visit us".

Yes, that's fine, in the sense that at 7.30 you will be located at your house.

Compare the prepositionless version:

I'll be home around 7.30.

This means that you'll get home at around that time.

 

[milan2003_07]

Thanks everyone!

Very good clarifications, indeed!

Jutfran's explanation is very clear! I see now the difference in the use of "home" and "at home". Example sentences from native speakers always help me a lot because I can always trust them. I believe all non-natives learn based on such examples!

 

[emsr2d2]

Just remember that frequently there's more than one "correct" way to say things in English, with no difference in meaning.

I came to repair your pipes but no one was home.
I came to repair your pipes but no one was at home.
I came to repair your pipes but no one was in.