Adverbs are of many different types. Some adverbs help describe what happens when, some describe how often something happens, and some adverbs help indicate where something happens. The last unit, which modifies a verb and expresses where an action takes place, is said to be an adverb of place.
Adverbs of place are amongst commonly used words, and we can see them in almost every sentence. Whenever there is a location concerned in a sentence, we automatically make use of these adverbs. However, there are specific ways in which they function. We will discuss them below to have a more clear understanding.
What are adverbs of place?
Adverbs are the set of words that simply modify or change the quality of a verb in a sentence. They can add meaning or alter the sense of a sentence in various ways with added information. So, when an adverb modifies and changes a verb or the action word by expressing where that particular action takes place, it is called an adverb of place.
Adverbs of place are very commonly referred to as spatial adverbs as well. They basically aim at providing information regarding the location of the action word. That means they have one principal job, which is to tell “where”.
There may be several adverbs of place that we use in a regular manner. Different words can explain where an action occurs with different meanings. But, the two most common examples of adverbs of place that will help you get a precise understanding of what we are talking about are here and there.
Here and There
We use “here” and “there” almost every time. These are the two most common adverbs of place where they try to give the location relative to the speaker. “Here” is the one that describes something that is towards or nearby the speaker, and “there” on the other hand, indicates something that is away from the speaker. They are usually applied at the end or after the main verb of the object.
Let us look at some examples.
- Go and keep your bag there.
- Please, come here.
Usage of adverbs of place
As mentioned earlier, there are several ways that adverbs of place function with different words and different meanings. Now, let us discuss them with some examples.
The location: The basic function of adverbs of place such as “here” and “there” is to describe the location of the action taking place. They tell where something happens.
Bring it here.
Movement: Another group of adverbs helps us describe a kind of movement regarding the action.
We need to get off the car.
Direction: Some adverbs of place, such as backward, towards, upwards, help us describe the direction of a movement concerning a particular action.
I saw it move upwards.
Movement and location: Some adverbs can explain both a movement and a location simultaneously.
It all went downhill.
Unspecified places: Also, some words can help us describe a location of an action without any specific information. They refer to unspecified locations. They are words like somewhere, everywhere, nowhere, etc.
Are you going somewhere?
So, we have adverbs of place that tell us where an action takes place in a sentence. Another important fact is that adverbs of place can also act as prepositions. In this case, they always follow a noun.
