Sashasaski  +  332404 Fri, 23 Feb 07 09:05 AM I really can't put my finger on it, but I just can't help feeling awkward about usage of the expression "in the home" below. 1. Smoking in the home can cause health hazard to your loved one as well. 2. Proper training starts in the home. If you are talking about specific home, like "in the home of Thomas Jefferson," I can understand. But obviously above sentences are talking about home in general. Even if the above usage isn't indeed awkward, why can't we replace it with "at home"? Any input would be appreciated. SS Sashasaski Joined on Sat, Dec 16 2006 New Member 45

	Sashasaski  +  332417 Fri, 23 Feb 07 10:12 AM Sorry I realize that I wasn't clear. Of course I knew we can replace "in the" with "at". I just think it sounds whole a lot better and natural with "at". So why would we use "in the" in the first place. is there any advantage for that? (I guess the example of smoking might be interpreted as "inside the home") BTW, I have no problem what so ever with "in the house". SS Sashasaski

	nona the brit  +  332418 Fri, 23 Feb 07 10:19 AM In this case 'in the home' really stands for the building rather than people's relationships to it. You wouldn't say 'Peter is in the home' instead of 'Peter is at home' and I guess this is where your discomfort comes from. However, in this case, we are not talking about anyone's specific home, we are really talking of it as a location, so 'in the' is fine. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,743 The name says it all.