Confused with the use of preposition ' a '

Question

I am trying to write:

' She needs to go home. '

And I ended up with: Ella tiene que ir a la casa.

But when I did the online translation at this site, the translation gave me ' to go to the house ' instead of ' to go home '. So I am wondering if perhaps I am using the preposition ' a ' incorrectly and if so, how would it be used in this sentence.

Answer 1

I would say: Ella tiene que ir a casa. The "la" isn't needed.

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Edit:

From the dictionary (which is really helpful):

to go/come home -> ir/venir a casa

I couldn't have said it better, myself! lol - Tosh, Jan 27, 2012

lol - Goldie_Miel, Jan 27, 2012

Thank you ^- ^ - interconnected, Jan 29, 2012

Answer 2

Ella tiene que ir a casa.

The "la" isn't needed.

That would be... to go home... instead of to go to the house.

Thank you too :D - interconnected, Jan 29, 2012

Answer 3

You're not using it wrong, it would be "tiene que ir a la casa" to mean She needs to go home. It's just preferred to say it that way in Spanish, and you need to follow ir with an 'a' because it signifies going to a location.

Thank you too also ^w ^ - interconnected, Jan 29, 2012