Prepositional phrases as qualifiers

6.80 As well as being used as adjuncts after verbs, prepositional phrases can be used after nouns as qualifiers to give information about place.

The muscles below Peter's knees were beginning to ache a little.

The chestnut trees in the back garden were a blazing orange.

They stood and watched the boats on the river.

...the clock in her bedroom.

...the little white fence round the rockery.

...the black shapeless masses to the left and right of the road.

6.81 Prepositional phrases can be added after roads, routes, and so on, to specify them by indicating their destination or direction.

...the main road from Paris to Marseilles.

...the road between the camp and the hospital.

...the road through the canyon.

Similarly, doors, entrances, and so on can be specified by adding prepositional phrases indicating where you can get to through them.

He opened the door to his room.

...at the entrance to the library.

Prepositional phrases can also be used after nouns to indicate where someone or something comes from.

...a veterinary officer from Singapore.

...an engineer from Hertfordshire.

Other ways of giving information about place

6.82 As well as a prepositional phrase, an adverb can be used as an adjunct to give information about place. For more general information about adverbs see the section beginning at paragraph 6.16.

No birds or animals came near.

Seagulls were circling overhead.

In many cases the same word can used as a preposition and as an adverb.

The limb was severed below the elbow.

This information is summarized below.

6.83 Here is a list of words which are used as adverbs to indicate position. Note that some adverbs consist of more than one word, for example, 'out of doors'.

abroad ahead aloft ashore away close to downstairs

downstream downtown downwind eastward halfway here indoors

inland midway nearby next door northward offshore outdoors

out of doors overhead overseas southward there underfoot underground

underwater upstairs upstream uptown upwind westward

The common adverbs of place, such as 'in' and 'up', which are used as adverbs and as prepositions are sometimes called adverb particles or adverbial particles. The following words are used as adverbs to indicate position, and can also be used as prepositions:

aboard about above alongside behind

below beneath beside beyond close by

down in in between inside near

off opposite outside over round

throughout underneath up

6.84 An adverb can be used as an adjunct if the adverb itself makes it clear what place or direction you mean.

The young men hated working underground.

The engine droned on as we flew northward.

You can also use an adverbs as an adjunct when it is clear from the context what place or direction you are referring to. For example, you may have mentioned the place earlier, or the adverb may refer to your own location, or to the location of the person or thing being talked about.

We went to the bottom of the field where a wagon stood half-loaded. We crawled underneath, between the wheels.

She walked away and my mother stood in the middle of the road, watching.

They had spent the autumn of 1855 in the Seeoni hills. And it was here that Hilary had written a report on the events that followed the annexation.

USAGE NOTE 6.85 A small group of adverbs of position are used to indicate the area in which a situation exists:

globally internationally

locally nationally

universally widely

worldwidely

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 6.86 Another small group of adverbs are used to indicate where two or more people or things are in relation to each other: 'together', 'apart', 'side by side' and 'abreast'.

All the villager and visitors would sit together round the fire.

...a little kneeling figure revealed by two angels holding the curtains apart.

adverbs of position with a following adjunct 6.87 Some adverbs of position are normally followed by another adjunct of position. This is particularly common when the verb 'be' 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.

adverbs of position with adjunct, modifier, or qualifier 6.88 The adverbs 'deep', 'far', 'high', and 'low', which indicate distance as well as position, are also usually followed by another adjunct 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 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.

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

'Deeper', 'further' (or 'farther'), 'higher', and 'lower' are usually followed by another adjunct of 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 6.68 above). '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.

6.90 There are four indefinite adverbs of position: 'anywhere', 'everywhere', 'nowhere', and 'somewhere'. They are used to indicate a position which is not definite or 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.

6.91 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 special?

• a prepositional phrase:

There were no elms anywhere in sight.

In 1917, Kollontai was the only woman in any government anywhere in the world.

• or a 'to'-infinitive clause:

We mentioned that we were looking for somewhere to live.

I wanted to have somewhere to put it.

You can also use a relative clause. Note that the relative pronoun is usually omitted.

Unreason is alive and well and living anywhere you care to name.

Everywhere I went, people were angry or suspicious.

6.92 'Else' is used after the indefinite place adverb to indicate a different or additional place.

We could hold the meeting somewhere else.

More people die in bed than anywhere else.

'Elsewhere' can be used instead of 'somewhere else'.

Gwen pulled down a folding seat and strapped herself in. The other girls had found seats elsewhere.

Elsewhere in the tropics, rainfall is notoriously variable and unreliable.

6.93 'Everywhere' and 'anywhere' can also be used as the subjects of verbs, especially 'be'.

Sometimes I feel that anywhere, just anywhere, would be better than this.

I looked around for a shop where I could buy chocolate, but everywhere was closed.