1 – I'm at home.
2 – I'm in the home.
3 – I'm at the home.
I understand that the above three sentences are correct. If all the above are correct, then why this one is wrong?
4 – I'm in home.
What is the difference between "I'm at home." and "I'm in home."?
when to use "in" and when to use "at" in sentences?
Best Answer
First of all when referring to home as the place of residence we never use a determiner. "at/in the home" refers to "home" in another sense, namely a place where people are taken care of, such as old people's home.
Secondly, "in" implies being inside something: either a physical place ("in the bedroom") or as a member of an institution ("in the army"). "at" indicates location while giving more importance to the function than to the actual location. ("At the theatre")
"I'm in home" is wrong because "home" does not refer to a location you can be inside of (but you can say I'm in my house/apartment etc.).
In your example:
"I'm at home" - I'm in the place where I live.
"I'm in the home" - I'm inside the home (old people's home) - stress on physical location, inside the actual building
"I'm at the home" - I'm at the home (old people's home), could be but not necessarily inside the building.