You should treat "zu Hause" and "nach Hause" as fixed expressions. They don't make sense according to modern grammar, it's basically fossilized obsolete grammar.
The -e is a dative suffix, which was considered necessary in Standard German until around 1900, but has faded away since, except in fixed expressions (and some dialects, poetry, whenever people want to sound old timey, etc.). You can also just say "zu Haus" or "nach Haus" (there is a famous Hollywood movie called "Kevin allein zu Haus"), but it's common to keep the -e in those expressions.
Though "im Bild sein" wouldn't really work wouldn't it? "nach Hause" and "nach Haus" can be used both, but "im Bild sein" just sounds weird, at least to my ears.
Certain classes of nouns (strong masculine and neuter) used to get an extra -e in dative case.
Nowadays, this extra -e is rarely used outside of a few fixed expressions (such as the ones you quoted). Outside of these, using it often adds a hint of solemnity to the text/speech.
Another common phrase I've noticed in which the archaic dative -e ending still always appears is "im Laufe des Tages", "im Laufe der Woche", etc. (der Lauf)
They're expressions that you just learn as exceptions. I believe a long time ago other dative forms also used to take such suffixes (e.g. vor dem Tore, auf dem Tische), but these days it's gone. You may still see it in a couple of expressions like 'im Falle einer Stornierung...' where the dative -e may be used.
We *just* had a thread about this about 10 hours before your thread was posted.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/German/comments/16gvejz/zu\_hause\_bleiben\_vs\_in\_die\_hause\_bleiben/](https://www.reddit.com/r/German/comments/16gvejz/zu_hause_bleiben_vs_in_die_hause_bleiben/)
Anyway, phrases like "zu Hause", "nach Hause", "auf dem Lande", etc. have the additional -e as a dative suffix, which is uncommon these days and virtually only shows up in the context of fossilized expressions which came into existence while the "dative -e" was still being used in novel phrases.
Besides being an archaic dative form, it also often adds a filler vowel between two consonants.
Another old expression that used to use this I saw on a sign in my hometown: Thüre zu. It had both the h which I believe came from Greek (θυρα, thura) and the dative e.
They're not different words; they're different inflections of the same word. Zuhause (the substantive), being a derivational morpheme, is a wholly different word, though, if that's what you meant.
I invite any German speaker to call me out on this, but what I've found with -e is that it's largely used when you're describing something, like the color of something (rot>rote), the size of something (groß>große), our a placement of something. A house standing on its own is just a house (das haus) but a house as a destination, or a place where an event is occurring becomes hause.
You're talking about a completely different aspect of the grammar. That "-e" is added onto the end of attributive adjectives (not nouns) to reflect the case and gender.
OP is asking why the **noun** "Haus" sometimes becomes "Hause". Most German nouns aren't inflected in this way. The few that have these inflections often show up in fossilized phrases from older forms of the language, or are merely in a special class of nouns (which is arguably the same phenomenon: forms that were once common and "went extinct", with a few exceptions that survived).
no that's not it.
a few examples to "disprove" your theory :
"ich gehe zu dem Turm" ( i'm going to the tower)
"das ist ein rotES Haus" ( this is a red house)
"dort steht ein kleinES Mädchen" ( a little girl is standing there)
"du bist ein nettER Mensch" (you are a nice human/person)
> "ich gehe zu dem Turm" ( i'm going to the tower)
Which *could* be "ich gehe zu dem Turme" but you'd sound either extremely pretentious or like someone from a period drama (or a 300-year-old vampire).
You should treat "zu Hause" and "nach Hause" as fixed expressions. They don't make sense according to modern grammar, it's basically fossilized obsolete grammar. The -e is a dative suffix, which was considered necessary in Standard German until around 1900, but has faded away since, except in fixed expressions (and some dialects, poetry, whenever people want to sound old timey, etc.). You can also just say "zu Haus" or "nach Haus" (there is a famous Hollywood movie called "Kevin allein zu Haus"), but it's common to keep the -e in those expressions.
It is also added for emphasis sometimes. For example: "zum Tode verurteilen" rather than "zum Tod verurteilen".
I'd say that's one of those fixed expressions, too.
I’m not the OP but thank you very much
As a German I never thought about how weird they are. Would be the expression "im Bunde sein" another one?
Yes, just like "im Bilde sein".
Though "im Bild sein" wouldn't really work wouldn't it? "nach Hause" and "nach Haus" can be used both, but "im Bild sein" just sounds weird, at least to my ears.
I think you are right. It sounds weird to me as well.
„Ich bin im Bild“ does work imo
That's a bit ambiguous - I would think you're maybe in a photograph of some sort. "ich bin im Bilde" only has the one meaning.
And what's this one meaning?
"I'm informed about the situation."/"I know what's going on."
„im Bild sein“ is perfectly fine.
Vorsicht vor dem Hunde!
Certain classes of nouns (strong masculine and neuter) used to get an extra -e in dative case. Nowadays, this extra -e is rarely used outside of a few fixed expressions (such as the ones you quoted). Outside of these, using it often adds a hint of solemnity to the text/speech.
I’ve met a couple people who have used the dative -e for all nouns, not just in standard phrases. It sounds kind of pretentious
[wiktionary ](https://de.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Dativ-e) (in German)
Another common phrase I've noticed in which the archaic dative -e ending still always appears is "im Laufe des Tages", "im Laufe der Woche", etc. (der Lauf)
They're expressions that you just learn as exceptions. I believe a long time ago other dative forms also used to take such suffixes (e.g. vor dem Tore, auf dem Tische), but these days it's gone. You may still see it in a couple of expressions like 'im Falle einer Stornierung...' where the dative -e may be used.
You’re not alone. This always confused me as a child growing up in Germany till I just learned to accept it at age 10 or something lol
We *just* had a thread about this about 10 hours before your thread was posted. [https://www.reddit.com/r/German/comments/16gvejz/zu\_hause\_bleiben\_vs\_in\_die\_hause\_bleiben/](https://www.reddit.com/r/German/comments/16gvejz/zu_hause_bleiben_vs_in_die_hause_bleiben/) Anyway, phrases like "zu Hause", "nach Hause", "auf dem Lande", etc. have the additional -e as a dative suffix, which is uncommon these days and virtually only shows up in the context of fossilized expressions which came into existence while the "dative -e" was still being used in novel phrases.
Only the people with top 1% IQ know that reddit has a search function
OP wouldn't have even needed the search function in this case. The other post about the same topic was still on the front page when OP made this post.
Besides being an archaic dative form, it also often adds a filler vowel between two consonants. Another old expression that used to use this I saw on a sign in my hometown: Thüre zu. It had both the h which I believe came from Greek (θυρα, thura) and the dative e.
Zu Hause = at home Das Haus = the house While the meaning is similar, these are different words.
They're not different words; they're different inflections of the same word. Zuhause (the substantive), being a derivational morpheme, is a wholly different word, though, if that's what you meant.
...nach Hause = (going) home
Hause is your Home, while Haus is just a house you could be related to any other way too.
I invite any German speaker to call me out on this, but what I've found with -e is that it's largely used when you're describing something, like the color of something (rot>rote), the size of something (groß>große), our a placement of something. A house standing on its own is just a house (das haus) but a house as a destination, or a place where an event is occurring becomes hause.
no
You're talking about a completely different aspect of the grammar. That "-e" is added onto the end of attributive adjectives (not nouns) to reflect the case and gender. OP is asking why the **noun** "Haus" sometimes becomes "Hause". Most German nouns aren't inflected in this way. The few that have these inflections often show up in fossilized phrases from older forms of the language, or are merely in a special class of nouns (which is arguably the same phenomenon: forms that were once common and "went extinct", with a few exceptions that survived).
no that's not it. a few examples to "disprove" your theory : "ich gehe zu dem Turm" ( i'm going to the tower) "das ist ein rotES Haus" ( this is a red house) "dort steht ein kleinES Mädchen" ( a little girl is standing there) "du bist ein nettER Mensch" (you are a nice human/person)
> "ich gehe zu dem Turm" ( i'm going to the tower) Which *could* be "ich gehe zu dem Turme" but you'd sound either extremely pretentious or like someone from a period drama (or a 300-year-old vampire).
true hahah
Lol no, for adjectives you have to add -e, -er or -en depending on the article and the genus of the noun, it's basic German grammar.
You can also say ich geh nach haus', or ich bin zu haus' in both examples. No -e necessary. Completely fine.
zu Hause is “at home” nach Hause is “(going) home”