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I encountered a sentence: Я был дома.. However, the sentence uses дома, the genitive form of a noun дом. But I cannot understand why the genitive is used in this case.
Specifically, why not say Я был дом.? Isn't it that the genitive is used in a sentence in which a negation occurs?
There is no applied case for any grammatical case at all. It is adverb, at least, from our Grammarians.
Главным формальным признаком наречия как части речи является отсутствие словоизменения.
дома, там, вчера, вместе, вдвоем, ... — are all adverbs
For example, in the phrase:
noun adv встреча вечером дорога домой
see more: http://rusgram.narod.ru/1645-1668.html
Дома - is the remnant form of the old Russian Local case(местный падеж) which has not been retained in modern Russian.
In modern Russian such forms are considered to be adverbs.
See: "Морфология русского литературного языка. Наречие. Форма и значение наречий" (№ 36/2004 газеты "Русский язык" издательского дома "Первое сентября") UPD По мнению Макса Фасмера, форма "дома" ("Я дома") является древней формой местного падежа. Реже эту форму определяют как форму Р.п., однако это маловероятно, так как историческим окончанием Р.п. слов склонения на -у, в которое входило слово "дом", было окончание -у (например, "из дому"). См.: Фасмер М. Этимологический словарь русского языка: в 4 т. Изд. 3-е. Т. 1 (А - Д). СПб., 1996. С. 526-527.
I too was looking for answer to the same question: why "I'm at home" would be translated "я дома" with дом in the genitive as opposed to maybe with a preposition, like "я на доме" or "я в доме". I guess sometimes you just have to accept that that's the way it's said and that's what it means. Really, that's how all children learn their native language. Everything is taught by repetition and only after a good few years of learning to use the language by trial and error can one then reflect back on the why's of it all.
because your house is your home and your home is a house (or mostly).
дом -> (a) house/home
as some people have already explained, it has nothing to do with Домой, they are not interchangeable because they don't have the same meaning (when it comes to the case they belong to) this last one would be the accusative form of дома.
Я был домit would have a meaning ofI was a house, whileЯ был домаmeansI was at home. But why all this happens I cannot tell you definitely. The only thing I remember from the school is thatдомаin this case is (I don't know the correct terms for the next items in English)обстоятельство(a circumstance) which isвторостепенный член предложения(a subordinate member of a sentence) and must be always in an indirect case. For me it is obvious and what I'm used to, but it is hard to explain from the scientific point.наorвnot used? I cannot get when you use a prepositional and when you use only genitive... And what is "indirect case"?домhas at least two meanings, which area house, a home, a buildingandhome(in its broader sense, that is one's place of living, a place where one come from etc.). If you use a prepositionна, в, перед, под, кetc. then the meaning will be the first onea house. I would not vouch for the 100% correctness, but I think that the only preposition which is used withдомin the second meaning (homein its broader sense) isиз(from), when you sayиз дому. But if you sayиз дома(with A at the end) then the word has the first meaning (a house)Я был домаit has the second meaning, that isI was at home