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I saw a video of an English tutor saying that we say:

  • I am going home, not
  • I am going to home.

because home is an adverb here. Why do we not follow the same guidance with sentences like:

  • I am feeling at home?

Wouldn't it be correct to say:

  • I am feeling home?

This also applies to other examples like:

  • I got my pen there, and
  • I got my pen from there.

How is the meaning between them different? Is there a rule of thumb for when we can use a preposition before an adverb?

Glaadrial
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Akshit Raj
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    First of all, there's no way of explaining what's going on whilst describing words like home, here and there as adverbs. They're intransitive prepositions. The verb go takes a preposition phrase complement. That might be to the shops or home or there or away or round the corner or into the night or down the road. In go home there's already a preposition phrase and we don't need another. When home is a destination we don't need another prep. However, if it's a location, we need a prep like at before it. – Araucaria - Not here any more. Sep 02 '23 at 21:28
  • Don't have time to give you all the info re there. Perhaps someone can write you an actual answer! – Araucaria - Not here any more. Sep 02 '23 at 21:29
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    What's the difference between there and from there? If you say: I got this pizza there, you actually went to the pizza parlor and picked it up. While if you say I got this pizza from there, possibly you just called them up and they delivered it. – Peter Shor Sep 02 '23 at 22:55
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    @PeterShor Good question; get means 'come to have' (a result) in both cases, but there refers to a distal location as a source, leaving speculation open about what action is actually the cause, hence 'possibly'. Other interpretations are available for more specific scenarios. – John Lawler Sep 02 '23 at 23:04
  • @Araucaria-Nothereanymore. Could you please spare some time to wrtie a complete answer? I looked all over the internet, I did not get any useful explanation. I also went through Wren and martin but it went in vain. If could write a complete answer I believe it would help the wider audience as well or please suggest some book wherein I can find answer to this question. – Akshit Raj Sep 09 '23 at 12:12
  • Does this answer your question? Possible ambiguities when using "home" as an adverb? (study home, write home...) – Ben Mo Juan Feb 26 '24 at 01:28

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