"at home" versus "in my house"
Llevo ya tiempo estudiando inglés. Siempre he entendido que con la palabra "home" se ponía siempre "at", pero cuando yo quería decir "house" utilizaba "in". Es decir, "at home" y "in my house".
Pero, ayer, casualmente mientras consultaba un libro de gramática ví "at his/her mother's house", "at a friend's house", etc.
¿Alguien me puede aclarar si realmente se puede utilizar también "at" con "house"? ¿Por qué? Gracias, espero vuestra contestación.
32 Answers
Si se puede. Home significa hogar. In quiere decir en o dentro. Estoy dentro de mi casa. o Estoy en mi casa. I am in my house. I'm going home o I'm going to my house se pueden usar paralelamente. I will be at home all day. Yo estaré en casa (hogar) todo el día. I will be IN my house all day. Yo estaré en MI casa todo el día.
Yo en un libro encontré "In my home", es esto posible?
Nila, seated se usa como "situado/sentado".
El verbo to sit o sit down no es transitivo así que no puedes decir:
I am sitting the child on the chair.
The child is sitting on the chair because I have seated the child there.
La misma diferencia que encuentras entre: sentar o estar sentado/sentarse
I sat at the table.
I was seated at the table.
seat2 verbo transitivo
'child? sentar(conj.');
to remain ~ed permanecer(conj.') sentado
O sea, se dice: I seated the child on the chair. No: I sat the child.
Sin embargo: The child sat on the chair/the child was seated on the chair.
If someone can translate this for me, I would appreciate it.
There is a slight usage problem with this example.
When someone says, "I'm at home" it can mean different things.
When someone says in my house, they are in their house, no other meaning.
When someone says I'm at home, it can mean
I'm in my house (generally only used in that way with people that you would be comfortable with having in your house)
I feel very comfortable here. (this does not simply mean that you are comfortable in for example, the chair in which you are sitting, but are also comfortable with the people present, and you feel like you belong)
Actually, I disagree with your the analysis presented in your second paragraph. I think that "I'm at home." means, simply, I'm in the place that is my permanent/customary residence. For the sense of "I feel comfortable/at ease here" you need to add a qualifying word/phrase e.g. "I'm at home here.", "I feel at home in this chair."
Personally, I can only imagine "sit" as a transitive verb when being used with children. I can still hear my mom saying something like . . .
I SAT YOU IN THAT SEAT AND NOW YOU SIT THERE!!!
Dear Natasha, you're contradicting yourself. In the sentence that you provide "sat" is transitive and "sit" is intransitive. (It's true that the first is in the past tense and the second in the present tense [or imperative voice, if you prefer]) but that does not change the transitivity of the verb.
How did I contradict myself? I entirely agree with your analysis, and deliberately gave a sentence where sit/sat was used both transitively and intransitively. I never said that "sat" could not be transitive.
Then I was misled by your saying "I can only imagine 'sit? as a transitive verb when being used with children." I took this to mean that, when applied to children, the verb could only be use transitively but your sentence (in which "sit" and "sat" apply to children) uses the verb (in)transitively. Even if that (restricting the usage to children) was not your intent, I would disagree, as suggested by the example in my previous post (which needn't be restricted to children).
Sorry, obviously I didn't make myself clear. After your original post, I had looked up "sit" in OED online as well, where one can see not only the definition but supporting quotes. After that, I was trying to think if I'd ever heard or read "sit" used transitively in real life. The only examples that came to mind involved children. I'm not saying other examples don't occur, only that when an adult is the object, it's more common to use some version of "seat," "seated," or "have a seat." It sounds more polite.
If someone can translate this for me, I would appreciate it.
There is a slight usage problem with this example.
When someone says, "I'm at home" it can mean different things.
When someone says in my house, they are in their house, no other meaning.
When someone says I'm at home, it can mean
1. I'm in my house (generally only used in that way with people that you would be comfortable with having in your house)
2. I feel very comfortable here. (this does not simply mean that you are comfortable in for example, the chair in which you are sitting, but are also comfortable with the people present, and you feel like you belong)
Personally, I can only imagine "sit" as a transitive verb when being used with children. I can still hear my mom saying something like . . .
I SAT YOU IN THAT SEAT AND NOW YOU SIT THERE!!!
Dear Natasha, you're contradicting yourself. In the sentence that you provide "sat" is transitive and "sit" is intransitive. (It's true that the first is in the past tense and the second in the present tense [or imperative voice, if you prefer]) but that does not change the transitivity of the verb.
How did I contradict myself? I entirely agree with your analysis, and deliberately gave a sentence where sit/sat was used both transitively and intransitively. I never said that "sat" could not be transitive.
Then I was misled by your saying "I can only imagine 'sit? as a transitive verb when being used with children." I took this to mean that, when applied to children, the verb could only be use transitively but your sentence (in which "sit" and "sat" apply to children) uses the verb (in)transitively. Even if that (restricting the usage to children) was not your intent, I would disagree, as suggested by the example in my previous post (which needn't be restricted to children).
Personally, I can only imagine "sit" as a transitive verb when being used with children. I can still hear my mom saying something like . . .
I SAT YOU IN THAT SEAT AND NOW YOU SIT THERE!!!
Dear Natasha, you're contradicting yourself. In the sentence that you provide "sat" is transitive and "sit" is intransitive. (It's true that the first is in the past tense and the second in the present tense [or imperative voice, if you prefer]) but that does not change the transitivity of the verb.
How did I contradict myself? I entirely agree with your analysis, and deliberately gave a sentence where sit/sat was used both transitively and intransitively. I never said that "sat" could not be transitive.
Although this is a long thread, I would like to comment on 'at home,at the house.' There are times when it is perfectly fine to use 'at the house.'. Suppose you were out in the field hoeing weeds and someone comes up to ask where your brother is. You could point back up the hill and say 'he's at the house.' Or if a friend calls you on the cell phone and wants to know where you are, you could say 'I'm at the house.' (You can also say I'm at home)
Personally, I can only imagine "sit" as a transitive verb when being used with children. I can still hear my mom saying something like . . .
I SAT YOU IN THAT SEAT AND NOW YOU SIT THERE!!!
Dear Natasha, you're contradicting yourself. In the sentence that you provide "sat" is transitive and "sit" is intransitive. (It's true that the first is in the past tense and the second in the present tense [or imperative voice, if you prefer]) but that does not change the transitivity of the verb.
Personally, I can only imagine "sit" as a transitive verb when being used with children. I can still hear my mom saying something like . . .
I SAT YOU IN THAT SEAT AND NOW YOU SIT THERE!!!
OED: (entry for verb "sit")
- a. To cause (a person) to sit; to seat in a certain place or position. Also with down, up.
Sam, what is oed?
I checked this :
'verb (used with object)
to cause to sit; seat (often fol. by down): Sit yourself down. He sat me near him.
to sit astride or keep one's seat on (a horse or other animal): She sits her horse gracefully.
to provide seating accommodations or seating room for; seat: Our dining-room table only sits six people.
Informal. to serve as baby-sitter for: A neighbor can sit the children while you go out.
Nila, con otras palabras:
Sí se puede decir a pesar de que algunos lo han considerado incorrecto incluso en este hilo:
He sat the child on a chair. I am sitting the child on the left.
Si te digo la verdad, me suena sumamente raro, pero al parecer sí es correcto. También estoy segura de que ningún alumno mío pasaría un examen si pone esto.
OED = Oxford English Dictionary. (the real one, which runs to about twenty large volumes). (There also exist: the SOD = Shorter Oxford Dictionary and CONCOX = Concise Oxford Dictionary). For matters historical (especially etymology and extensive citations of historical usage [reflecting changes in nuance over time]) it is without parallel. Frankly, the DRAE is but a pale imitation when one speaks of a "comprehensive dictionary". Nor is it only the DRAE; to the best of my knowledge, there is no other dictionary in the world that approaches the breadth and depth of the OED.
Personally I would prefer (for example) "I'm going to seat you next to the bride's mother." but I've often heard "I'm going to sit you next to the bride's mother." (and this does not fall under the heading of "things I've heard people say that cause me to shudder/cringe"). If anything, I'm more disturbed by your suggestion that a student's grade might be reduced for using "to sit" as a transitive verb.
I will be at home all day. Yo estaré en casa (hogar) todo el día.
I will be IN my house all day. Yo estaré en MI casa todo el día.
Esta explicación es muy buena.
en casa = at home
en mi casa = in my house, or at my house
Cuando queremos decir que estamos en la casa de alguien, simpre lo decimos usando la forma de {at (person's) house}.
Por celular:
-Querido, ¿dónde estás?
-Estoy en la casa de Miguel.
-Honey, where are you?
-I'm at Miguel's house.
También, cuando decimos por ejemplo "Estuve donde mi amigo" en español, lo decimos en inglés como "I was at my friend's."
We're going to Grandma's = Vamos donde Abuelita
The party is at your sister's = La fiesta es donde tu hermana
OED: (entry for verb "sit")
- a. To cause (a person) to sit; to seat in a certain place or position. Also with down, up.
Sam, what is oed?
I checked this :
'verb (used with object)
to cause to sit; seat (often fol. by down): Sit yourself down. He sat me near him.
to sit astride or keep one's seat on (a horse or other animal): She sits her horse gracefully.
to provide seating accommodations or seating room for; seat: Our dining-room table only sits six people.
Informal. to serve as baby-sitter for: A neighbor can sit the children while you go out.
Nila, con otras palabras:
Sí se puede decir a pesar de que algunos lo han considerado incorrecto incluso en este hilo:
He sat the child on a chair. I am sitting the child on the left.
Si te digo la verdad, me suena sumamente raro, pero al parecer sí es correcto. También estoy segura de que ningún alumno mío pasaría un examen si pone esto.
Yes, you could say either. "Seated" can have to do with your position in the room, or with someone else seating you. However, a lot of times you can interchange the two.
She was seated by the ushers in the second row.
They were seated pretty high up in the stadium.
"Please be seated." sounds a lot more polite than "Sit down!".
Nila, es lo que quise decir con menos suerte que Natasha, desde luego.
Seated es más parecido a "estar situado"
Vamos a ver:
sitting/seated = sentado
seating = sentando
