Collins Cobuild English Grammar (128 page)

He moved to Portugal, and it was
there
where he learnt to do the samba.
She walked
away
and my mother stood in the middle of the road, watching.
They spent the autumn of 1855 in Japan. It was
here
that Hilary wrote her first novel.

USAGE NOTE

6.56
    A few adverbs of position are used to show the area in which a situation exists:

globally

internationally

locally

nationally

universally

widely

worldwide

Everything we used was bought
locally
.

Unlike most other adverbs of position, they cannot be used after
be
to state the position of something.

USAGE NOTE

6.57
    A few other adverbs are used to show where two or more people or things are in relation to each other:
together
,
apart
,
side by side
and
abreast
.

All the villagers and visitors would sit
together
round the fire.
A figure stood at the window holding the curtains
apart
.

adverbs of position with a following adverbial

6.58
    Some adverbs of position are normally followed by another adverbial of position. This is particularly common when the verb
be
is used as a main verb.

Barbara’s
down at the cottage
.
Adam was
halfway up the stairs
.
Out on the quiet surface of the river
, something moved.
She is
up in her own bedroom
.

deep
,
far
,
high
,
low

6.59
    The adverbs
deep
,
far
,
high
, and
low
, which indicate distance as well as position, are also usually followed by another adverbial of 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.

Far
and
far away
are often qualified by a prepositional phrase beginning with
from
.

I was standing
far away from the ball
.
We lived
far from the nearest village
.

adverbs of position: comparatives and superlatives

6.60
    Some adverbs have comparative and superlative forms. The superlative form is not used to show position, but to specify which of several things you are talking about.

Deeper
,
further
(or
farther
),
higher
, and
lower
are usually followed by a prepositional phrase showing position.

Further along the beach
, a thin trickle of smoke was climbing into the sky.
The beans are a bit
higher on the stalk
this year.

Nearer
can be used as an adverb as well as a preposition (see paragraph
6.88
).
Closer
can only be used as an adverb.

The hills were
nearer
now.
Thousands of tourists stood watching or milled around trying to get
closer
.

anywhere
,
everywhere
,
somewhere
,
nowhere

6.61
    There are four indefinite adverbs of position:
anywhere
,
everywhere
,
nowhere
, and
somewhere
. They are used to talk about a position that is not definite or that is very general.

I dropped my cigar
somewhere
round here.
I thought I’d seen you
somewhere
.
There were bicycles
everywhere
.
No-one can find Howard or Barbara
anywhere
.

Nowhere
makes a clause negative.

There was
nowhere
to hide.

If
nowhere
is at the beginning of a clause, the subject of the verb must be placed after an auxiliary or a form of
be
or
have
.

Nowhere have I seen
any serious mention of this.
Nowhere are they
overwhelmingly numerous.

American English has informal variants for all four of these adverbs in which the word
place
replaces
-where
. These can be written as one or two words.

Haven’t you got
some place
to go?
Video-conferencing can connect anyone, anytime,
anyplace
.

adding information

6.62
    There are several structures you can use with indefinite place adverbs in order to give more information. You can use:

an adverb of place:

I would like to work
somewhere abroad
.
We’re certainly
nowhere near
.

an adjective:

We could go to Majorca if you want
somewhere lively
.
Are you going
somewhere nice
?

a prepositional phrase:

The waiter wasn’t
anywhere in sight
.
In 1917, Kollontai was the only woman in any government
anywhere in the world
.