Practice
Adverbs of place: rules and examples
The keys are upstairs. Please wait outside. The words upstairs and outside tell us where the action or situation is. They are adverbs of place.
Use common adverbs of place to say where an action happens and place them naturally in an English sentence.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
outside, upstairs, and abroad /aʊtˈsaɪd/, /ˌʌpˈstɛrz/, /əˈbrɔd/
The short answer
Use an adverb of place to show where something happens, is, or goes. Put it after the verb when there is no object, or after the object when the verb has one.
Please put your coat there.
Why it works: There comes after the object your coat and tells the listener where to put it.
5 more examples
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The children are playing outside after lunch.
Outside tells us where the children are playing.
Not this:The children are playing
in the school yardafter lunch. What changes: This place phrase gives a more exact location. -
Please leave the package here by the door.
Here points to the place the speaker means.
Not this:Please leave the package
on the blue shelfby the door. What changes: The longer phrase is useful when the exact spot matters. -
Nadia looked everywhere for her glasses.
Everywhere means in all the places Nadia checked.
Not this:Nadia looked
in her bagfor her glasses. What changes: This sentence names one particular place. -
My brother works abroad during the summer.
Abroad means in or to another country.
Not this:My brother works
in another countryduring the summer. What changes: This is a direct place phrase with the same general idea. -
We put the extra chairs upstairs before the meeting.
Upstairs comes after the object extra chairs and gives their destination.
Not this:We put the extra chairs
in the storage roombefore the meeting. What changes: The place phrase supplies a more specific destination.
Read the full guide
Look for the location question first: where did it happen, where is it, or where did it go? Then choose a word that gives the needed location. A single adverb works when the place is already clear. Use a longer place phrase when the listener needs more detail.
Answer the question where
An adverb of place adds a location to an action or situation. Ask where? If the answer is outside, nearby, upstairs, or somewhere else, an adverb of place may be the right choice.
The delivery driver is waiting outside.
Outside tells us where the driver is waiting.
Which word answers where in The delivery driver is waiting outside?
Outside answers where.
Put the place after the verb
When a sentence has no direct object, the place adverb commonly follows the verb. This order keeps the action and its location together.
The guests stayed nearby.
Stayed is the action, and nearby tells us the location.
Choose the natural order: The guests nearby stayed or The guests stayed nearby.
Use The guests stayed nearby.
Keep the object next to the verb
If the verb has an object, put the object first and the adverb of place after it. English usually keeps a verb and its object together.
Rosa placed the file there.
The file is the object. There comes after it.
Which order is natural: Put there the file or Put the file there?
Use Put the file there.
Choose a precise place when needed
Here and there are useful when both people can see or know the location. In instructions, delivery notes, and messages, a longer phrase may prevent confusion.
Leave the signed form on the reception desk.
On the reception desk gives the reader a location that does not depend on the speaker.
Which wording is clearer in a message sent before a meeting: Leave it there or Leave it on the reception desk?
Use Leave it on the reception desk when the reader may not know what there means.
Do not add to to every destination
Some adverbs already include the idea of direction. Use go home, walk upstairs, and travel abroad without to. Use to before a noun phrase such as to the station or to another country.
After work, Lina went home.
Home acts as a destination word here, so to is not needed.
Choose the correct phrase: travel abroad or travel to abroad.
Use travel abroad.
Before you go
Remember this
Use an adverb of place to answer where. Put it after the verb when there is no object and after the object when there is one. Choose a fuller place phrase when the listener needs a precise location.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Adverbs of place: rules and examples"
What is an adverb of place?
An adverb of place tells the reader or listener where an action happens, where a person or thing is, or where something goes. Common examples are here, there, outside, upstairs, nearby, and abroad. In The children are playing outside after lunch, outside gives the location of the action.
The children are playing outside after lunch.
Where do adverbs of place go in a sentence?
An adverb of place often comes after the main verb when there is no object: The guests stayed nearby. When a verb has an object, put the object before the place word: Please leave the package here by the door. This order keeps the verb and its object together.
The children are playing in the school yard after lunch.
Can here and there be unclear in writing?
Yes. Here and there depend on the speaker's location or on shared context. They work well when both people know the place. In a note that someone will read later, a specific phrase is often clearer. Write Leave the package on the blue shelf by the door when the exact location matters.
Please leave the package here by the door.
Do I use to with upstairs and abroad?
Usually no. Upstairs, downstairs, home, and abroad can already show a destination, so English normally says walk upstairs, go home, or work abroad. Use to before a noun phrase instead, as in go to the office or travel to another country.
Please leave the package on the blue shelf by the door.
What is the difference between everywhere and a place phrase?
Everywhere means in all the relevant places, so it gives a broad location. A place phrase names one location more exactly. Nadia looked everywhere for her glasses means she checked many places. Nadia looked in her bag for her glasses names only one place.
Nadia looked everywhere for her glasses.