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36.
Adverbs of place
away, everywhere, here, nowhere,
somewhere, there etc.
A. If there is
no object, these adverbs are usually placed after the verb:
She went away. He lives
abroad. Bill is upstairs.
But they come after verb + object or
verb + preposition + object:
She sent him away. I looked
for it everywhere.
Adverb phrases, formed of
preposition + noun/pronoun/adverb, follow the above position rules:
The parrot sat on a perch. He
stood in the doorway.
He lives near me.
But see also E below.
B. somewhere, anywhere
follow the same
basic rules as some and any:
I've seen that man somewhere.
Can you see my key anywhere? ~ No, I
can't see it anywhere.
Are you going anywhere?
(ordinary question) but
Are you going somewhere?
(I assume that you are.) nowhere,
however, is not normally used in this position except in the expression
to get nowhere (= to achieve nothing/to make no progress):
Threatening people will get you
nowhere. (You'll gain no
advantage
by threatening people.) But it can
be used in short answers:
Where are you going? ~ Nowhere.
(I'm not going anywhere.)
It can also, in formal English, be placed at the beginning of a sentence and is
then followed by an inverted verb:
Nowhere will you find better roses
than these. (See 45.)
C. here, there
can be followed by be/come/go
+ noun subject:
Here's Tom. There's Ann.
Here comes the train.
There goes our bus.
here and there
used as above carry more stress than
here/there placed after the verb. There is also usually a difference in
meaning. Tom is here means he is in this room/building/town etc.
But Here's Tom implies that
he has just appeared or that we have just found him. Tom comes here means
that it is his habit to come to this place, but Here comes Tom implies
that he is just arriving/has just arrived. If the subject is a personal pronoun,
it precedes the verb in the usual way:
There he is. Here I am.
Here it comes.
But someone and something
follow the verb:
There's someone who can help you.
Note that the same sentence, spoken
without stress on There, would mean that a potential helper exists. (See
117.)
D . Someone phoning a friend may introduce
himself/herself by name + here:
ANN (on phone): Is that you, Tom? Ann here
or This is Ann. She must not say Ann is here or
Here is Ann.
E. The adverbs away (=
off), down, in, off, out, over, round, up etc. can be followed by a verb
of motion + a noun subject:
Away went the runners.
Down fell a dozen apples.
Out sprang the cuckoo.
Round and round flew the plane.
But if the subject is a pronoun it
is placed before the verb:
Away they went. Round and
round it flew.
There is more drama in this order
than in subject + verb + adverb but no difference in meaning.
F. In written English adverb
phrases introduced by prepositions (down, from, in, on, over, outt
of, round, up etc.) can be followed by verbs indicating position (crouch,
hang, lie, sit, stand etc.), by verbs of motion, by be born, die, live
and sometimes other verbs:
From the rafters hung strings of
onions.
In the doorway stood a man with a
gun.
On a perch beside him sat a blue
parrot.
Over the wall came a shower of
stones.
The first three of these examples could also be
expressed by a participle and the verb
be:
Hanging from the rafters were
strings of onions.
Standing in the doorway was a man
with a gun.
Sitting on a perch beside him was a
blue parrot.
But a participle could not be used
with the last example unless the shower of stones lasted for some time.
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