"Home" or "at home"

The correct spelling(s) of home

In principle, both the spellings “at home” and “at home” are correct and correct. In addition, the expression “at home” is also permitted according to the Duden. However, depending on the use of the part of speech, the expression is written either uppercase or lowercase, separately or together.

Home as a noun

If the word home means the home, house or apartment, it is always capitalized as a noun and written together.

Examples:

• My home is important to me.
• He is looking forward to a new home.
• She designed her home very beautifully.

You can determine whether home is suitable in a sentence with a simple check. In the event that you can replace home with the word "home", the spelling "home" is incorrect. In this case you need “home” or “at home”.

Home as an adverb

However, if the expression is used as an adverb, i.e. as a circumstantial word, the spelling is always lowercase. You can always recognize an adverb by asking questions like when?, where from?, how?, where?, or whither? can provide. The expression can be written together or separately. So the following are allowed: at home, or at home.

Examples:

• He will stay at home today.
• He just came from home.
• I'll pick something up at home.

In these cases, the Duden recommends the spelling “at home”. This is the older spelling. Until 2004, “zuhause” was still incorrect in German usage. However, it had already been used in Switzerland and Austria for a long time.

Alternative expressions

According to Duden, the expression can also be used without the ending “e”. Home as a noun and home, or to house as an adverb are also correct spellings.

Examples:

• I feel at home here.
• My home is my retreat.

“Home”, “at home” or “at home” are all correct expressions. However, when used as a noun, the expression is always capitalized and written together. As an adjective, however, it is written in lower case and can be used separately or written together.