Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place tell us where an action has taken place, that is, they tell us where an action has happened. There are many, many adverbs of place, and they can also function as prepositions. Remember, adverbs modify adjectives, verbs and other adverbs.

Adverbs of place modify the verb, adjective or other adverbs, therefore they usually go after the verb at the end of the clause.

What’s more, there are many adverbs of place, such as: below, anywhere, here, there, far, indoors, upstairs, where, on, out, abroad, under, afar.

Adverbs of place are plentiful and come in all shapes and sizes! Also, note that a lot of them function as prepositions as well.

Normal usage of adverbs of place

• I looked around for him for five hours.
• You are studying abroad, aren’t you?
• He lives afar.
• Vicky went upstairs to her room.
• Christina left to go where she wanted to study.
• Where are you, Jack? I am below in the basement.
• I’m working here for the next year.

In many cases, adverbs function both as adverbs and prepositions

When the adverb is, in fact, a proposition it needs to be followed by a noun. In the next few examples, both cases will be outlined

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs 

• The famous football player dropped into our school to make a guest appearance.
• The desk was left behind.
• Have you been looking around?

Prepositions are used before nouns or pronouns to relate them grammatically

• I poured the water into the cup.
• I am behind the desk.
• He is travelling around the world.

Adverbs of place in context

• Hey, have you seen my brother, Jacob?
• Yes, I think he’s below¹ in the basement.
• OK, thanks. I’ll² go take a look now.
• Hello? Jacob?
• Hi! I’m here³, can you see me?
• Oh, yes, now I see you. I just⁴ wanted to see if you were indoors⁵.
• Don’t worry, I haven’t gone far. What’s the problem?
• Well, now that I see you’re indoors, would you be able to come upstairs and help me for a second?
• Sure, no problem.
• Thanks, don’t worry, afterwards you can go back downstairs⁶.
• Catch you later.

Analysis

1. He’s below: adverb below modifies the verb (‘s/is) to express where he is.
2. I’ll: contracted form of the modal auxiliary verb will. Remember, we use will when we want to express an immediate, positive reaction (something that you’re going to do in the moment of speaking).
3. Here: adverb of place to express where the speaker is.
4. I just wanted:  we use just in English as a way of being polite or to justify our actions.
5. Indoors: adverb of place to show where the speaker is.
6. Downstairs:  adverb of place to express where the speaker is.

See also