Adverbs of Place | ESL Master

What an Adverb of Place Is

An adverb of place answers the question Where?. It tells us where something happens.

Come here. (Where? Here.)

She lives there. (Where? There.)

I looked everywhere. (Where? Everywhere.)

The keys are inside. (Where? Inside.)

Unlike prepositions of place (in, on, at), adverbs of place stand alone — you do not need a noun after them.

Preposition + noun	Adverb (no noun)
`He is at home.`	`He is here.`
`Look in the bag.`	`Look inside.`
`Go to the second floor.`	`Go upstairs.`

Common Adverbs of Place

Here and There

Word	Meaning
`here`	at this place / near the speaker
`there`	at that place / far from the speaker

Come here.

Sit here, please.

Put the box there.

I work there now.

Don’t confuse there (place) with there is/are (existence — see the lesson on There is / There are).

Everywhere, Somewhere, Anywhere, Nowhere

These four words come from every, some, any, no + where.

Word	Meaning	Use
`everywhere`	in / at all places	positive sentences
`somewhere`	in / at some place	positive sentences
`anywhere`	in / at any place	questions and negatives
`nowhere`	in / at no place	implies a negative meaning

I looked everywhere for my keys.

Let's go somewhere quiet.

I can't find it anywhere.

Did you go anywhere yesterday?

There is nowhere to sit.

Use somewhere in positive sentences and anywhere in questions or negatives, just like some and any.

Other Common Adverbs of Place

Word	Meaning
`inside`	within a building or container
`outside`	not inside
`upstairs`	on a higher floor
`downstairs`	on a lower floor
`home`	at one’s own home
`away`	not at this place
`abroad`	in another country
`nearby`	close to here

It is cold outside. Let's stay inside.

My bedroom is upstairs.

I am going home now.

She is away on holiday.

They live abroad.

Is there a shop nearby?

Note: words like home, upstairs, downstairs, abroad, inside, outside do not take to after a verb of movement.

I went home. ✓ (not I went to home.)

Let's go upstairs. ✓ (not Let's go to upstairs.)

Where Adverbs of Place Go in a Sentence

Adverbs of place usually go at the end of the sentence, after the verb (and after the object, if there is one).

The children are playing outside.

I left my book here.

Put the chairs there, please.

Wrong	Right
`She here lives.`	`She lives here.`
`I outside played.`	`I played outside.`
`He upstairs is sleeping.`	`He is sleeping upstairs.`

If a sentence has both an adverb of manner (how) and an adverb of place (where), the place adverb usually comes first:

She sang beautifully here yesterday. (a bit awkward)

She sang here beautifully yesterday. ✓

Common order: place + manner + time, or just place + time.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Better	Why
`I am going to home.`	`I am going home.`	Don’t use `to` before `home`, `upstairs`, `downstairs`, `abroad`.
`Come here please.` (with `here` after `please`)	`Please come here.`	Adverbs of place go after the verb, before final tags like `please`.
`I can't find them somewhere.`	`I can't find them anywhere.`	In negatives, use `anywhere`, not `somewhere`.
`There is no nowhere to sit.`	`There is nowhere to sit.`	`Nowhere` is already negative — don’t add `no` or `not`.
`I looked the keys everywhere.`	`I looked everywhere for the keys.`	The adverb usually goes after the verb (and any object), often with the right preposition.
`She lives here in this city.`	OK — `here` and `in this city` mean the same thing	This isn’t wrong, but it’s a small redundancy.

Practice: Exercises

1 / 12

Choose the correct sentence.

Summary

Adverbs of place answer the question Where?. The most common A1 ones are:

here, there, everywhere, somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs, home, away, abroad, nearby.

Use somewhere in positive sentences and anywhere in questions and negatives.

Nowhere is already negative — don’t add another not.

Adverbs of place usually go at the end of the sentence: She lives here., The cat is outside.

Don’t add to before home, upstairs, downstairs, abroad, inside, or outside: Go home. not go to home.