Я жду бабушку дома.

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Breakdown of Я жду бабушку дома.

• дома: at home
• бабушка: the grandmother
• ждать: to wait for

Questions & Answers about Я жду бабушку дома.

Why is бабушку in the accusative case and not бабушка?

In Russian, the direct object of a transitive verb like ждать (“to wait for”) takes the accusative case. Feminine nouns ending in -а form the accusative singular by replacing -а with -у. Hence бабушка → бабушку.

Why doesn’t ждать use the genitive case for бабушка, since some Russian verbs govern genitive?

Different verbs govern different cases. Ждать governs the accusative in affirmative sentences. The genitive after ждать appears only in negative constructions or poetic style (e.g. Я не жду бабушки, “I’m not waiting for grandmother”). In positive statements you always use accusative.

What kind of word is дома? Why isn’t there a preposition?

дома here is an adverb meaning “at home.” It’s derived from дом (“house/home”) and doesn’t require a preposition. Many Russian adverbs of place (e.g. внизу “below,” спереди “in front”) stand alone without prepositions.

Could I say в доме instead of дома? What’s the difference?