Breakdown of Он наверное дома.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
дома
at home
наверное
probably, most likely
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Questions & Answers about Он наверное дома.
Why is there no verb for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always dropped. So, он дома literally means "he at home." If you wanted to say this in the past or future, you would need a verb, similar to the было/будет structures in your current lesson: он был дома (he was at home) or он будет дома (he will be at home).
Why do we use дома instead of just дом?
Дом is the noun for "house" or "home." When you want to express location and say someone is at home, you must use the special adverb form дома.
Where does the word наверное come from?
It is a very common word for "probably" or "most likely." It is related to the word верно (correct or true). When you use наверное, you are essentially saying "it is likely true that..."
Shouldn't there be commas around наверное?
Yes, according to strict Russian grammar rules! Наверное is a "parenthetical" word (a word that adds a side note or speaker's attitude to the whole sentence). Formally, it should be set off by commas: Он, наверное, дома. However, in casual writing, native speakers frequently skip them.