◊ asking about someone's home
If you want to know where someone's home is, you say 'Where do you live?' or 'Whereabouts do you live?'
'Where do you live?' ---'I have a little studio flat, in Chiswick.'
'Where do you live?' ---'Off Frogstone Road.' ---'Where's that?'
If you want to know where someone spent their early life, you can say 'What part of the country are you from?' You can also say, 'Where do you come from?' or 'Where are you from?', especially if you think they spent their early life in a different country.
'Where do you come from?' ---'India.'
◊ place names
Place names such as 'Italy' and 'Amsterdam' are a type of proper noun and are spelled with a capital letter.
The table on this page and the following page shows ways of referring to different types of places. Those marked with a star are less common.
Most place names are used with a singular verb form. Even place names that look like plural nouns, for example 'The United States' and 'The Netherlands', are used with a singular verb form.
Canada still has large natural forests.
Milan is the most interesting city in the world.
...when the United States was prospering.
However, the names of groups of islands or mountains are usually used with a plural verb form.
...one of the tiny Comoro Islands that lie in the Indian Ocean midway between Madagascar and Tanzania.
The Andes split the country down the middle.
The name of a country or its capital city is often used to refer to the government of that country.
Britain and France jointly suggested a plan.
Washington had put a great deal of pressure on Tokyo.
You can also sometimes use the name of a place to refer to the people who live there. You use a singular verb form even though you are talking about a group of people.
Europe was sick of war.
...to pay for additional imports that Poland needs.
For other ways of referring to the people of a country, see entry at ↑
Place names can also be used to refer to a well-known event that occurred in that place, such as a battle or a disaster.
After Waterloo, trade and industry surged again.
...the effect of Chernobyl on British agriculture.
◊ modifier use
You can use a place name as a modifier to indicate that something is in a particular place, or that something comes from or is characteristic of a particular place.
...a London hotel.
She has a Midlands accent.
◊ adverbials
Many adverbials -- that is, prepositional phrases and adverbs -- are used to talk about place. For information on where to put these adverbials in a clause, see entry at ↑
◊ prepositions: position
The main prepositions used to indicate position are 'at', 'in', and 'on'.
Sometimes we went to concerts at the Albert Hall.
I am back in Rome.
We sat on the floor.
For the difference in use between 'by' and 'near', see entry at ↑
Here is a full list of prepositions which are used to indicate position:
aboard, about, above, across, against, ahead of, all over, along, alongside, amidst, among, around, astride, at, away from, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, close by, close to, down, in, in between, in front of, inside, near, near to, next to, off, on, on top of, opposite, out of, outside, over, past, through, throughout, under, underneath, up, upon, with, within
◊ prepositions: destination and direction
The main preposition used to indicate a destination is 'to'.
I went to the door.
She went to Australia in 1970.
Note that 'at' is not usually used to indicate a person's destination. It is used to indicate what someone is looking towards, or what they cause an object to move towards.
They were staring at a garage roof.
Supporters threw petals at his car.
See also entries at ↑
Here is a full list of prepositions which are used to indicate where something goes:
aboard, about, across, ahead of, all over, along, alongside, around, at, away from, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, from, in, in between, in front of, inside, into, near, near to, off, on, onto, out of, outside, over, past, round, through, to, towards, under, underneath, up
As you can see from the above lists, many prepositions can be used to indicate both place and direction.
The bank is just across the High Street.
I walked across the room.
We live in the house over the road.
I stole his keys and escaped over the wall.
◊ qualifier use
Prepositional phrases are used after nouns as qualifiers to indicate the location of the thing or person referred to by the noun.
The table in the kitchen had a tablecloth over it.
The driver behind me began hooting.
◊ prepositions with parts and areas
If you want to say explicitly which part of something else an object is nearest to, or exactly which part of an area it is in, you can use 'at', 'by', 'in', 'near', or 'on'. 'To' and 'towards' (which are usually used to indicate direction) are used to express position in a more approximate way.
You use 'at', 'near', and 'towards' with the following nouns:
back, base, bottom, centre, edge, end, foot, front, rear, side, top
At the bottom of the stairs you will find a rough patch of mosaic paving.
The old building of University College is near the top of the street.
He was sitting towards the rear.
You also use 'to' with 'rear' and 'side'.
A company of infantry was swiftly redeployed in a stronger position to the rear.
There was one sprinkler in front of the statue and one to the side of it.
You use 'on' or 'to' with 'left' and 'right', and 'in' with 'middle'. You can also use 'on' instead of 'at' with 'edge'.
The church is on the left and the town hall and police station are on the right.
To the left were the kitchens and staff quarters.
My mother stood in the middle of the road, watching.
He lives on the edge of Sefton Park.
You use 'to' or 'in' with the following nouns:
east, north, north-east, north-west, south, south-east, south-west, west
To the south-west lay the city.
The National Liberation Front forces were still active in the north.
You use 'at' or 'by' with the following nouns:
bedside, dockside, fireside, graveside, kerbside, lakeside, poolside, quayside, ringside, riverside, roadside, seaside, waterside
...sobbing bitterly at the graveside.
We found him sitting by the fireside.
Note that you generally use 'the' with the nouns in the three previous lists.
I ran inside and bounded up the stairs. Wendy was standing at the top.
To the north are the main gardens.
However, you can also use a possessive determiner with the nouns in the first list above ('back', 'base', etc), and with 'left', 'right', and 'bedside'.
We reached another cliff face, with trees and bushes growing at its base.
There was a gate on our left leading into a field.
I was at his bedside at the very last.
Note that 'in front of' and 'on top of' are fixed phrases, without a determiner. They are compound prepositions.
She stood in front of the mirror.
I fell on top of him.
◊ adverbs: position
There are many adverbs which indicate position. Many of these indicate that something is near a place, object, or person that has already been mentioned.
Seagulls were circling overhead.
Nearby, there is another restaurant.
This information is summarized below.
Here is a list of the main adverbs which are used to indicate position:
aboard, about, above, abroad, ahead, aloft, alongside, ashore, away, behind, below, beneath, beside, beyond, close by, close to, down, downstairs, downstream, downwind, here, in, in between, indoors, inland, inside, near, nearby, next door, off, offshore, opposite, out of doors, outdoors, outside, over, overhead, overseas, round, there, throughout, underfoot, underground, underneath, underwater, up, upstairs, upstream, upwind
A small group of adverbs of position are used to indicate how wide an area something exists in:
globally, internationally, locally, nationally, universally, widely, worldwide
Everything we used was bought locally.
Western culture was not universally accepted.
Unlike most other adverbs of position, these adverbs (with the exception of 'worldwide') cannot be used after 'be' to state the position of something.
The adverbs 'deep', 'far', 'high', and 'low', which indicate distance as well as position, are usually followed by another adverb or phrase indicating position, or are modified or qualified in some other way.
Many of the eggs remain buried deep among the sand grains.
One plane, flying very low, swept back and forth.
'Deep down', 'far away', 'high up', and 'low down' are often used instead of the adverbs on their own.
The window was high up, miles above the rocks.
Sita scraped a shallow cavity low down in the wall.
◊ adverbs: direction or destination
There are also many adverbs which indicate direction or destination.
They went downstairs hand in hand.
Go north from Leicester Square up Wardour Street.
She walked away.
Here is a list of the main ones:
aboard, abroad, ahead, along, anti-clockwise, around, ashore, back, backwards, clockwise, close, down, downstairs, downtown, downwards, east, eastwards, forwards, heavenward, here, home, homeward, in, indoors, inland, inside, inwards, left, near, next door, north, northwards, on, onward, out of doors, outdoors, outside, overseas, right, round, sideways, skyward, south, southwards, there, underground, up, upstairs, uptown, upwards, west, westwards
◊ qualifier use
Place adverbs can be used after nouns as qualifiers.
...a small stream that runs through the sand to the ocean beyond.
My suitcase had become damaged on the journey home.
◊ modifier use
Some place adverbs can be used in front of nouns as modifiers.
Gradually the underground caverns fill up with deposits.
There will be some variations in your heart rate as you encounter uphill stretches or increase your pace on downhill sections.
The following place adverbs can be used as modifiers:
anticlockwise, backward, clockwise, downhill, downstairs, eastward, inland, inside, nearby, northward, outside, overhead, overseas, southward, underground, underwater, uphill, upstairs, westward
◊ indefinite place adverbs
There are four indefinite adverbs of position and direction: 'anywhere', 'everywhere', 'nowhere', and 'somewhere'.
No-one can find Howard or Barbara anywhere.
There were bicycles everywhere.
I thought I'd seen you somewhere.
For information on when to use 'anywhere' and when to use 'somewhere', see entry at ↑
'Nowhere' makes a clause negative.
I was to go nowhere without an escort.
In writing, you can put 'nowhere' at the beginning of a clause for emphasis. You put the subject of the verb after an auxiliary or a form of 'be'.
Nowhere have I seen any serious mention of this.
Nowhere are they overwhelmingly numerous.
Note that you can put a 'to'-infinitive clause after 'anywhere', 'somewhere', or 'nowhere' to indicate what you want to do in a place.
I couldn't find anywhere to put it.
We mentioned that we were looking for somewhere to live.
There was nowhere for us to go.
You can also put a relative clause after these adverbs. Note that you do not usually use a relative pronoun.
I could go anywhere I wanted.
Everywhere I went, people were angry or suspicious.
You can use 'else' after an indefinite place adverb to indicate a different or additional place.
We could hold the meeting somewhere else.
More people die in bed than anywhere else.
'Elsewhere' can be used instead of 'somewhere else' or 'in other places'.
It was obvious that he would rather be elsewhere.
Elsewhere in the tropics, rainfall is notoriously variable and unreliable.