When saying that someone is not at home, in the office or other place where you are currently located, do we say: a) ‚He’s not there at the moment‘ or b) ‚He’s not here at the moment‘?
The correct answer is b). ‚Here‘ means in this place or location, whereas ‚there‘ means the opposite – indicating that something is further away in a different location. Here and there are examples of adverbs of place.
Grammar point – adverbs of place
Adverbs of place describe where things are or happen, as well as movement. They answer the question ‚Where?‘ and don’t normally end in -ly. Usually, they are placed after the main verb or object, or at the end of a sentence/clause. They can go in the front of a sentence for emphasis; this is more common in written English. Sometimes they can be prepositions when they introduce a phrase that includes an object.
Below are some of the most common adverbs of place.
Above/Below | Backwards/Forwards/Downwards/
Upwards |
Near by/ Far away |
About | Between | Next |
Ahead/Behind | East/West/North/South | On/Off |
Around | In/Out | Over/Under |
Anywhere/Everywhere/Nowhere/
Somewhere |
Inside/Outside | Up/Down |
Away | Here/There | Upstairs/Downstairs |
Back | Near/Far |
Examples
- Would you like to come over?
- I put the book back on the shelf.
- I walked upstairs to get something.
- I looked everywhere for my cat and found him downstairs.
- I couldn’t find my cat anywhere.
- There are a lot of nice shops near by/nearby.
- I moved backwards and lost my balance.
- She drove off in a hurry towards the school.
- At noon I headed out. However, I didn’t know whether I was heading North or East.
Note that ‚towards‘ is a preposition because it is always followed by a noun or pronoun.
- She drove off in a hurry towards the school. (NOT She drove off in a hurry towards.)