Adverbs of Place - Away, Everywhere, Here, Nowhere, Somewhere, There

If you want to use English effectively, then a good knowledge of adverbs of place is essential.

Here is some of them:

here, nowhere, somewhere, there, away, everywhere,  etc.

A     If there is no object, these adverbs are usually placed after the verb:

• Sheila went inside.   
• The kids went outside.    
• Let's go forwards.

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. 

B     somewhere, anywhere follow the same basic rules as some and any:

I've seen that man somewhere.

a) Can you see my key anywhere?
b) 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:

a) Where are you going?
b) 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. 

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.

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, out_, 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.