Can we use "to" before home, if we are using determiners (her, my, your etc.) before home?

5

2

I know these sentences are correct:

I am going home.

I am coming home.

I went home.

Please let me know, are these sentences also correct or not:

I am going to her home.

I am coming to your home.

I went to his home/house.

Or these are correct:

I went her home.

I am going her home.

Thanks in advance.

user62015

Posted 2014-02-15T19:44:06.677

Reputation: 3 999

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/33652/why-is-to-not-used-before-home – CowperKettle – 2014-02-15T20:04:29.407

3Bizarrely, I find myself interpreting OP's last pair as being more likely to be a non-native speaker's faulty rendering of something like *I saw her home*, or *I walked her home* (I went with her as an escort, to make sure she got home safely). – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica – 2014-02-15T23:43:16.870

Answers

5

An interesting question: home is quirky.

  • Bare home—no preposition, no determiner—always means the home of the person in question: the person who is going home or staying home or leaving home.

    I'm going home. ... means my home
    We're staying home. ... means our home
    She's leaving home. means her home

  • With the prepositions at and from, the determiner may be omitted if the home in question is that of the person in question.

    I'm at home right now. ... I'm at my home.
    We came straight from home. ... We came from our home.

  • But if a determiner is used—any determiner, even one which defines the home in question as being that of the person in question—the preposition is also required.

    He's going to Lynne's home.   *He's going Lynne's home.
    I'm going to my home now.   *I'm going my home.

  • If two people are involved, it gets tricky; you may need a determiner or other context to disambiguate.

    I saw her home. ... will almost always mean her home
    I brought her home. ... will almost always mean my home
    I took her home. ... whose home? Probably hers, but
    She didn't have a place to stay, so I took her home. ... means my home

StoneyB on hiatus

Posted 2014-02-15T19:44:06.677

Reputation: 176 469

Great answer (+1), but I don't quite agree that "I brought her home" usually means the speaker's home. I think it could go either way. "You don't have a ride? I'll take you home," would be a transportation offer, not a pick-up line. And the next day: "It was too cold to walk last night – how did Martha get home?" In that case, I would answer, "I took her home," meaning, "I drove her to her house and dropped her off," not, "I took her to my place." But this isn't so much a criticism of your answer as it is an affirmation that – as you said – it gets tricky. There's inherent ambiguity here. – J.R. – 2014-02-16T18:04:31.760

@J.R. My 'primary' second language is German, and that tends to colour my view of English. In German, bringen would be used in either case, so the marked contrast in English is something I very likely exaggerate. – StoneyB on hiatus – 2014-02-16T18:25:20.177

Asked: 2014-02-15T19:44:06.677

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Active: 2015-12-22T02:19:44.453