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Why do we often say "I'm home" rather than "I'm at home"? How is the former even grammatically correct? Should this be thought of as a use of a "phrasal verb", "to be home"?

(We don't say "I'm beach" or "I'm gym"... Similarly we say "Go home" but not "Go work"...)

Are there other examples of this pattern of dropping an otherwise required preposition?

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    There are a few words denoting habitual places that don't require prepositions. Home is one; I'm home usually is uttered on entering, and means "I'm returning to my home"; I'm at home usually means "I am in my home now, not elsewhere". Short sentences usually mask big contexts.
    – John Lawler
    May 1 at 17:33
  • @EdwinAshworth not really, I'm asking about the actual grammar of this phrase.
    – Luke Hutchison
    May 2 at 18:29
  • Many wives have told their husbands "Go work!"
    – Hot Licks
    May 2 at 21:23
  • (1) It's grammatical. (2) It's a relict from earlier 'I'm a-home' (the best I can reproduce this simply) where 'a-home' corresponds to a prepositional phrase (cf 'I'm in Manchester / on the train / at the doctor's / over in France ...). The marking distinguishing the erstwhile PP from the noun has been lost. (3) This doesn't happen with say school, doctor's, France, [the] train ... you still need the overt preposition. (4) This has been said before.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    May 3 at 9:17

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