A student who recently finished our foundational course “Core Concepts of English” and received our $700 rebate asked about the grammatical role of the the word “home” in this sentence from one of the course assignments:
Every Chinese New Year, hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel home to their families.
每年農曆新年期間，數以億計的中國人都會回鄉與家人團聚。
She asked why the answer key marked the word “home” as an adverb modifier and not a noun (as in, a direct object of the verb “travel”) in this sentence.
Indeed, the word “home” is an adverb in this sentence modifying the entire core action of this clause -- “hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel” (with the subject “hundreds of millions of Chinese people” and the finite verb “travel”). It describes that the core action of “travel” is “toward the direction of home.”
The word “home” has two grammatical “versions” -- one a noun meaning the physical location of “home” and/or the idea of “home,” and the other an adverb.
The adverb version of “home” has two separate but related locational and directional meanings -- it can mean “at home/inside the home” or “toward home,” depending on context.
For example:
This is my home.
這是我的家。
In this sentence, “home” is a noun. It is in the noun phrase “my home.” It is expressing the meaning of “the place of home.”
But, for example:
I am home now, but I will go out later.
我現在在家，但稍後會出去。
In this sentence, “home” is an adverb meaning “in the home.”
And, for example:
They will go home soon.
他們很快會回家。
In this sentence, “home” is an adverb meaning “toward home.” In the fixed expression “go home,” the word “home” is an adverb modifier of the verb “go” and not its direct object.
The thing to understand is that many -- or, actually, probably the majority -- of English words have more than one “version.”
The different “versions” might be completely different grammatical roles, or they might have the same grammatical role but express completely different or similar but slightly different meanings, with each meaning having a different grammatical characteristic regarding elements like objects and specific modifiers.
That is why it is very important to have a grammatical framework in place so that you can analyze each word you don’t know within the structural and meaning context of the sentence you find it in.
Only then would you be able to learn to use the word productively in your own sentences accurately both in structure and meaning.
If you want to build a systematic grammatical framework as a basis for all your English learning, learn more about our foundational course “Core Concepts of English” now. The pricing will be adjusted soon.
最近有一位完成了我們基礎課程《Core Concepts of English》，並獲得我們 $700 回贈的同學，問了我一個很好的問題。
她問的是課程其中一個練習入面這句句子的答案：
Every Chinese New Year, hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel home to their families.
每年農曆新年期間，數以億計的中國人都會回鄉與家人團聚。
她想知道，為甚麼答案將句子入面的「home」分析成副詞修飾語，而不是名詞（即動詞「travel」的直接賓語）。
的確，在這個句子入面，「home」是一個副詞，修飾這個子句的整個核心動作——「hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel」（當中主語是「hundreds of millions of Chinese people」，限定動詞是「travel」）。它描述的是，「travel」這個核心動作是「向著家的方向」進行的。
「Home」這個字有兩個文法上的「版本」：一個是名詞，表示「家」這個實際地方，或者「家」這個概念；另一個是副詞。
副詞版本的「home」本身又有兩個相關的位置／方向意思：視乎語境，它可以表示「在家」，也可以表示「回家／向家的方向」。
例如：
This is my home.
這是我的家。
在這個句子入面，「home」是名詞。它在名詞組「my home」入面，表達的是「家這個地方」的意思。
又例如：
I am home now, but I will go out later.
我現在在家，但稍後會出去。
在這個句子入面，「home」是副詞，意思是「在家」。
再例如：
They will go home soon.
他們很快會回家。
在這個句子入面，「home」也是副詞，意思是「向家的方向」。在固定表達「go home（回家）」入面，「home」是修飾動詞「go」的方向的副詞修飾語，而不是它的名詞直接賓語。
大家要理解的是，很多英文單字——甚至可以說，大部分英文單字——都不只得一個「版本」。
不同「版本」可能有完全不同的文法角色；也可能有相同的文法角色，但表達完全不同的意思，或者相似但有細微分別的意思。而每一個意思，亦會有自己在文法上的特徵，例如會不會接賓語、會和甚麼特定修飾語一起出現等。
這也是為甚麼，學英文時有一套文法框架是很重要的。
這正正就是《Core Concepts of English》想幫大家建立的能力：不是只記住一個字的中文意思，而是學會將它放回句子結構入面，判斷它在當下語境中的文法角色和意思。
《Core Concepts of English》不久之後會有價格調整；想有系統地重新建立自己對英文句子的根本理解，請到下面連結了解更多。