# EN: passer à la maison



## Nate385

Hi,

I am not sure how to use them when I say: "Je dois passer à la maison" ou "Je dois passer chez moi"

Do we say: "I have to *drop in at* the house"/"I have to drop in at my house" or "I have *to drop in* the house,..." or "I have to *drop in to* the house,..."?

Can we use either "drop in" or "drop by" to express this wish?

Thanks!


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## momo99

I would use "I have to *drop in at* the house" if I'm talking to someone who lives in the same house, family for example, and "I have to drop in at my house" if I'm talking to someone else.
I tend to use 'drop by' if I'm going to visit somebody else, e.g. "I'll drop by next week" (Je passerai la semaine prochaine)


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## Nate385

Thanks a lot. I have been looking for an answer for ages .


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## Enquiring Mind

There are two other phrasal verbs you could use too, in the same way that momo99 described with "drop in at", and they are "*to stop off at*", and "*to call in at*".

"I have to stop off/call in at the *house* to put these chilled products in the fridge. (It's understood that you're stopping off at your _own_ house, stress on *house*.) 
"I have to stop off/call in at *my* house to put these ......" (stress on *my*)


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## Nate385

Ok thanks again for additional information.


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## Tochka

Enquiring Mind said:


> There are two other phrasal verbs you could use too, in the same way that momo99 described with "drop in at", and they are "*to stop off at*", and "*to call in at*".
> 
> "I have to stop off/call in at the *house* to put these chilled products in the fridge. (It's understood that you're stopping off at your _own_ house, stress on *house*.)
> "I have to stop off/call in at *my* house to put these ......" (stress on *my*)


In AE we often use just "stop" rather than "stop off", 
"stop by the house to ...."
"stop at the house to ...."


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## LV4-26

Enquiring Mind said:


> There are two other phrasal verbs you could use too, in the same way that momo99 described with "drop in at", and they are "*to stop off at*", and "*to call in at*".
> 
> "I have to stop off/call in at the *house* to put these chilled products in the fridge. (It's understood that you're stopping off at your _own_ house, stress on *house*.)
> "I have to stop off/call in at *my* house to put these ......" (stress on *my*)


That's interesting.
I'd always assumed _calling_ to mean _visiting_ (someone else).
So you're saying you can _call in_ at your own house even if you live alone and/or there's no one in?


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## Tochka

LV4-26 said:


> That's interesting.
> I'd always assumed _calling_ to mean _visiting_ (someone else).
> So you're saying you can _call in_ at your own house even if you live alone and/or there's no one in?


I can't speak for Enquiring Mind, but I would only use "call" if I were visiting.


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## Enquiring Mind

LV4-26 said:


> I'd always assumed _calling_ to mean _visiting_ (someone else).
> So you're saying you can _call in_ at your own house even if you live alone and/or there's no one in?


Yes,  it's true that it's usually used in the sense of someone visiting someone else's house, as you note, but it *can *also used (in BE at least) in the sense I wrote about, though my own preferred choice would be "to stop off at".  [And note the posts by AE speakers who don't use "stop _off_ at".]
Here are some examples from the net in the sense I suggested:
"... I planned to dash across the International Bridge from my home in Cornwall. I needed to call in at my house before leaving, and it was at this point I saw my answer phone flashing..." (source) 
"I'm going to go to Li******er Valley, early start, and then make my way  over to see some of the forest stages, probably call in at my house for  bacon butties on the way..." (source)
"On the way back from the cinema we had to call in at my house to collect my works uniform for tomorrow..." (source)
"Tempting as it was to call in at my house here, I shuffled my way into the darkness of the approaching night while the route took me towards *..." *(source)


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## Dixiepig

Ok, for American English, the verb "call" is a very formal--and little used--for "visiting".  Someone "calls on" someone (typically at their home).  "I will call on you next week" = {I will come to your house to see you next week.}  "I will come calling next week" = {same sense}. It brings to mind sitting down in the front parlor (formal living room) and taking tea--a "formal" visit. In American English, we do not use the expression "call in" to mean "visit" at all. We use it referring to the act of making a telephone call--"I will call in my report" = {I will give my report in a telephone call}.


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## Tochka

Welcome to the forum, Dixiepig.


Dixiepig said:


> Ok, for American English, the verb "call" is a very formal--and little used--for "visiting".


  In the US this may be a generational thing.  True, it can be used formally, but I believe it was equally a part of normal, common speech for many people when I was growing up (middle of the last century).  The phrase "I'll call on you tomorrow" still sounds normal enough to my ear, although I'm not sure when I've last heard it used.  (Of course, people don't drop by to visit each other so frequently these days, either!)  It may be that as its use is dying out in common speech, among younger speakers it's taking on a more and more formal connotation.


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## timpeac

LV4-26 said:


> That's interesting.
> I'd always assumed _calling_ to mean _visiting_ (someone else).
> So you're saying you can _call in_ at your own house even if you live alone and/or there's no one in?



Not in British English - or at least mine. If you call in then you're visiting a person. Stopping off (along a journey) at your own house to pick something up is fine.


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## Dixiepig

Like you, other than Rhett Butler in _Gone with the Wind_, I can't recall the last time I heard anyone saying they were going to come "calling on" someone ("It was so nice to become reacquainted with you; i'll come calling next week to get to know you better."). My more significant point was: the expression "call in" n'existe pas in American English.  We might "dine in" {eat at home} or "turn in early" {go to sleep early} but I've never heard the expression used of "calling in", other than as I described.  Just a difference between one side of the big pond and the other.


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## timpeac

Dixiepig said:


> Like you, other than Rhett Butler in _Gone with the Wind_, I can't recall the last time I heard anyone saying they were going to come "calling on" someone ("It was so nice to become reacquainted with you; i'll come calling next week to get to know you better."). My more significant point was: the expression "call in" n'existe pas in American English.  We might "dine in" {eat at home} or "turn in early" {go to sleep early} but I've never heard the expression used of "calling in", other than as I described.  Just a difference between one side of the big pond and the other.


We do use it - but it's not a simple meaning of visiting. I think that you'd call in somewhere along your way. So you could say "I'll call in to pick up my wallet (that I forgot) on my way to visit my mother". As an extension to that, you might use "call in" slightly euphemistically to mean "to visit" where you don't want to make a big deal of it. So you could say "next time I'm back visiting my parents I'll be sure to call in" - there is still an idea of a stop along a continuing journey.

I wouldn't use it in the pure sense of visit as in "I'll call in next Tuesday for coffee" - or if I did it would have to be in some sort of wider sense that I was making a wider journey that day - a nurse could say that in the sense that this is one of the stops on his/her itinerary that day.


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## LV4-26

Thanks Enquiring Mind, Tochka, Dixiepig and Tim.



timpeac said:


> We do use it - but it's not a simple meaning of visiting. I think that you'd call in somewhere along your way. So you could say "I'll call in to pick up my wallet (that I forgot) on my way to visit my mother". As an extension to that, you might use "call in" slightly euphemistically to mean "to visit" where you don't want to make a big deal of it. So you could say "next time I'm back visiting my parents I'll be sure to call in" - there is still an idea of a stop along a continuing journey.
> 
> I wouldn't use it in the pure sense of visit as in "I'll call in next Tuesday for coffee" - or if I did it would have to be in some sort of wider sense that I was making a wider journey that day - a nurse could say that in the sense that this is one of the stops on his/her itinerary that day.



I distinctly remember hearing "_call *round*_" (rather than _call in_) on several occasions. As in...
 "_I'll call round at 3_."
...for instance.
Situation : children making arrangements to go somewhere together.
Meaning : I'll come to your home to fetch  you.

_"Je passerai à 3 heures"_ would be an appropriate translation.

I can hardly imagine using it in Nate's context.
But then, _call round_ isn't the same as _call in_.


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## timpeac

Call round is fairly similar to call in to me - but the nuance, to my mind, is a brief pause especially to pick something up or drop something off. That said, you could still call round for coffee with someone.


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