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Why can we say "Is your mother home?" but we can't say "is the boss office?" originally Why to ask if someone is at home? you can say "is your mother home?", but you can't say "is the boss office" to ask if someone is in the office.

behnam nouri
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    For the same reason we can't "walk office" or "go office" or "hit office". But maybe in 100 years people will be saying that. Grammar describes how people use the language, it doesn't set the rules; and people don't use "office" in that way. – TimR Dec 05 '23 at 21:18
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    This is answered by John Lawler in 'Home' in 'Ben and Jen went home.' Can an adverb be a noun at the same time?, though I'm not sure it's close enough to actually close this as a duplicate. – Laurel Dec 05 '23 at 21:25
  • More simply, one of the definitions of "home" is that it's equivalent to "at home". There's no analogous definition for most other place names. – Barmar Dec 05 '23 at 21:30
  • You can say though "Is the boss in?” – Mari-Lou A Dec 05 '23 at 22:00
  • You can say "Is the boss home?" :p – ralph.m Dec 05 '23 at 22:12
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    Does this answer your question? Prepositions used with "Home" Saying 'it's an adverb, not a noun, in this usage' or 'it's better analysed as an intransitive preposition' get no nearer to answering why 'home' behaves this way. This answer explains why 'He went home' has no preposition ['to' in this case], and probably 'at home' was likewise expressed by a single word in earlier days. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 06 '23 at 12:54
  • @EdwinAshworth Adverbs don't normally function as complement of "be", so an adverbial classification makes no sense. Modern grammar rightly classifies it as a prep, meaning "in/at one's usual place of residence". – BillJ Dec 07 '23 at 13:11
  • @EdwinAshworth Of course the prep analysis explains it. Go takes a preposition phrase as a complement. You can have to or home or away, but not to and another preposition. *Go to away , for example. – Araucaria - Him Dec 08 '23 at 11:14
  • @Araucaria You're missing the point. Analysing 'home' as a preposition is one way of reconciling things (if you're prepared to make concessions along the line). But why does 'home' behave this way when say 'office' doesn't? – Edwin Ashworth Dec 08 '23 at 23:37
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    @EdwinAshworth That's like saying Why does fly have a past tense when frog doesn't? The answer is because fly (the fly that has a past tense) is a verb, and frog is a noun! Home behaves like that because it's a prep and office doesn't because it's a noun! The verb go takes PP complements, not NP ones! – Araucaria - Him Dec 09 '23 at 11:10
  • @Araucaria Essentially, with examples where one might expect 'to home' at least, the dative form of the noun 'home' (now deceased as a separate entity), which included the prepositional element, has coalesced with the prototypical noun. This explains the 'why', at least for the directional usage. What one calls the covert dative etc is arguable. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 09 '23 at 17:58

2 Answers2

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[1] "Is your mother home?"

[2] *"Is the boss office?"

Traditional grammar classifies the "home" in [1] as an adverb. But adverbs don't normally function as complement of "be". Modern grammar sensibly classifies it as a preposition, meaning "in/at their usual place of residence".

In [2] "office" is a noun, but it doesn't have a locational meaning like "home", and so makes no sense as complement of "is". Instead, the prepositional "in his/her office" is required.

BillJ
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  • https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/111764/difference-between-went-home-and-went-to-home – Greybeard Dec 06 '23 at 23:30
  • @Greybeard Frankly, the content in that linked site (EF) is absurd. For example, it's ridiculous to say that "Many English nouns and noun phrases can be used as adverbs". Anyone with even a modest knowledge of English grammar would find that laughable. – BillJ Dec 07 '23 at 13:07
  • It is then ironic that, to the intended audience, it is perfectly understandable. On the other hand, what I assume is Pullam and Huddleston's idea that "home" is a preposition is really risible and shows a deep ignorance of the origins of "home" the adverb/adjective. – Greybeard Dec 07 '23 at 13:11
  • @Greybeard Don't be ridiculous. As far as modern grammar is concerned, the origins are irrelevant. I explained to you in my earlier comment the grammatical reason that it can't be an adverb. Even this humble dictionary gets it right: link – BillJ Dec 07 '23 at 13:18
  • As far as modern grammar is concerned, the origins are irrelevant. Not in this case: Old English is why we have this syntax. – Greybeard Dec 08 '23 at 14:52
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    @Greybeard Modern grammar looks at the evidence. You should try it some time. I've explained to you that adverbs don't normally function as complement of "be", so an adverbial classification makes no sense. Together with its meaning of something like "in one's usual place of residence", everything points to it being a preposition. – BillJ Dec 08 '23 at 16:17
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Home is a

Noun I. The place where a person or animal dwells. (OED)

and

Adverb 1.e. Without verb of motion. Arrived at one's house, neighbourhood, or country after a period of absence. Also: in one's home; at home. (OED)

Office is only a noun. There is no adverb "office".

Greybeard
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  • I think the OED is wrong about "home". Adverbs don't normally function as complement of "be", so an adverbial classification makes no sense. Modern grammar classifies it as a prep, See my answer. – BillJ Dec 06 '23 at 10:01
  • This answer is erratically. – Araucaria - Him Dec 08 '23 at 11:11