In India, when I ask a friend to "come home", it often means I am inviting the friend to my home. I am told that this is different in England or the US, where native speakers would use "come home" only to call somebody back to their own home. Is that right?
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1Native English speakers in North America or England would never say "come home" to tell someone to go to that person's own home, so that part of your proposition is not quite correct. (It would have to be "go home".) Unless of course the speaker's home was also the listener's home. Perhaps that was implied in your statement.– quiet flyerFeb 4 at 18:22
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godtube.com/watch/?v=1CBEMJNU– Hot LicksFeb 5 at 0:30
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Two of Fillmore's Deixis Lectures address this question: the first one, "May We Come In?", and the fifth one, Coming and Going,– John LawlerFeb 5 at 19:37
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3 Answers
This is correct, at least as far as the US is concerned. We would typically use the phrase "come over," defined by Cambridge as "to visit someone's home."
For a short visit, the phrase "drop by" is also used, defined by Cambridge as "to come to see someone, sometimes at a stated place, usually briefly and without a specific invitation."
Edit: as commenters have pointed out, "come home with me" does make sense, if you are physically with someone else and want them to join you in going back to your home.
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5In the UK come home on its own would sound odd, but it would be possible to say "Would you like to come home with me?" if you were about to go home yourself and were inviting them to accompany you. Feb 4 at 17:22
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2@KateBunting -- that hits the nail on the head and should become part of an answer-- (and same for US ) Feb 4 at 18:21
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@KateBunting Lotto, should be an answer. AmE has the same usage. Alphabet, how does saying "this is correct" mean that come over is the same as come home? Feb 4 at 19:01
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My reasoning is that, if you were already at home, you wouldn't tell someone to "come (to my) home" if you wanted them to visit. By contrast, if you were at the mall, you might very well tell someone to "come to the mall" to meet you. It seems like "come home" is an exception to the rule.– alphabetFeb 4 at 19:44
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2In British English 'come home' is usually only used if both the speaker and the listener have the same home (this could be a house, city or country). The only exception is the phrase @KateBunting uses above "come home with me" but this should be used with caution as it tends to imply the person will be staying the night, probably in the same bed Feb 5 at 11:19
Yes, come home has the following meaning:
- To return to one's home after time away from it.
I'm always thrilled to come home after a long day at the office.
(The Free Dictionary)
- “Come to my home/house” would more clearly refer to an invitation to where you live.
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Thank you all for your valuable inputs. I'm delighted with your learned responses. Feb 6 at 8:35
in England or the US, where native speakers would use "come home" only to call somebody back to their own home. Is that right?
No
Parent: "My child has gone missing. I want him to come home." [home = to our house]
Friend: "Well, that was a pleasant evening, why don't you come home? We could have a few drinks and watch a film." [home = to my house]
You to a friend: "On Tuesday, after the match, if you come home, we could have a few drinks and watch a film." [home = to my house]
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10I'm a native AmE speaker and would never use your second or third examples without "with me" following "come home."– shooverFeb 5 at 2:02
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1Also, your three examples have a total of three quote characters in them (should be six). Feb 5 at 7:21
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@Greybeard, thank you. Of your three sentences, #2 and #3 seem like the usage in India, about which I am trying to check. Not saying that is wrong, because English has many variants, but are you writing as a "native speaker" from a place like the UK or the US? Feb 5 at 10:42
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I am native British English and would never use (nor have ever heard) #2 or #3. I would say "come to my house" or "come to mine" or "come over". "Come home" only means exactly "come back to our home" Feb 5 at 11:44