2-2 Here is an example from today's homepage of QQ.com. You may find the rhythmid pattern without pain. 遂宁市\北固乡\街头\，一名\拄着\拐杖的\残疾*小伙\就\吃力地\推着\三轮车\, ·以、90元\一枚的\价格\叫卖\自家\秘制的\“童子蛋”\，现场\不乏\慷慨*解囊\者。当地\政府\相关\部门\已经\专程\赶赴\小伙子家\探望。 2. Sometimes the differnce between家and家庭is stylic. 家 is more colloquial and informal, while 家庭 is more literal and formal. 家 actually almost never comes in caual speech. 3. As for the meaning, 家 may mean either HOME (the place where a family live) or FAMILY，but 家庭 does not mean the place otherwise.

家 means home or family. 我在家。=I am at home. 我有一个幸福的家（家庭）。=I have a happy family. In this sentence, 家=家庭=family Look up your dictionary and find out explanation of 家庭. You can understand the meaning of 家 by understand a whole sentence.

2-1 Dana, I can understand your feeling when you 'received a lot of mixed answers'. Yes, there are too many confusing problems for foreign language learners while they are no 'problems' at all for the native speakers. It's the same case for non-native English learners: when they ask a question in an english forum, it's very likely there would be lots of varied answers, which may probably create new confusion if the askers connot decide. The reasons for this lie with two facts that a common native speaker of a language usually talk perfectly right whereas knows LITTLE of the grammar even if they have taken the grammar lessons at school, and that grammar is so complex that there is even no one grammar which could probably involve every problem with a single language, let alone there are so many questions remain unanswered or open to better answers. ( And so the best way for learning a foreign language is to live with the native speaers of the language and immerse in it; )Yes, you are right if you're feeling i'm suggestiong your studying in China :) Now let me try to give my complementary answer: 1. 家is monosyllable and 家庭bisyllable. Rhythm lays a great impact on Chinese grammar, which is seldom mentioned in common grammars although well known for lots of pioneering grammarians. The basic rhythmic mode for Chinese words (thymic word) is bisyllable, which makes the language flow smooth and rhymic, and therefore more than sixty per cent words are made in this way. The most active words, which are very frequently used in both spoken and written language, often remain monosyllabe as like those in ancient Chinese; in real speech they are often prolonged or shortened so as to be more rhymic. There are also some words in three syllables, in which often there is a syllable is soft, or sometimes is spoken more quickly, so that the whole sounds more or less like bisyllable. Four-or-above-syllable words are rare and often rhythmicaly treated as phrases.

The simplest way is to think the following 家 = family (all the relations) 家庭 = immediate family Of course context plays very important... 我家三口 My family is three... So it excludes uncles and aunts... 我家上下大少 (Literal translation: My family top bottom, big and small) All in my family (of different ages and status)

There is nothing much different .Both of them are right,but 家庭,more exactly.家means home,and it contains some more feelings.;)