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Questions & Answers about Мой друг скучает по дому.
What is the tense and person of the verb скучает?
It’s the present tense, third-person singular form of the imperfective verb скучать (“to miss”).
Why is дому in the dative case?
Because скучать uses the fixed pattern скучать по + Dative to express “to miss” something. The preposition по here governs the dative.
Why do we need the preposition по? Can’t we say Мой друг скучает дому?
No. With скучать you always insert по before the dative object. Omitting по would be ungrammatical.
Could we use домой instead of дому?
No. Домой is an adverb of motion (“to home, homeward”) used with verbs of movement. To say “miss home,” you need the noun дом in dative after по: по дому.
What does дом mean here – “house” or “home”?
Literally it’s “house,” but in скучать по дому it carries the emotional sense of “home” – that place where you feel you belong.
Why is the possessive мой and not моя?
Because it modifies друг, which is a masculine noun in the nominative case. So you use the masculine form мой друг.
Could we say Скучает по дому мой друг instead?
Yes, but that word order is more poetic or emphatic. In everyday speech you’d normally say Мой друг скучает по дому.
What’s the difference between скучать по дому and тосковать по дому?
Both mean “to miss home,” but скучать is neutral and common in speech, while тосковать is more literary or stronger in emotion.
Can I use Ему скучно в доме to mean the same thing?
No. Ему скучно в доме means “He is bored in the house.” It uses the adjective скучно (“boring/bored”) plus the locative в доме, not the verb construction скучать по + Dative for “to miss.”