Noun groups referring to place: place names

6.102 There are a number of verbs of position and movement which are followed by noun groups referring to places instead of by adjuncts. These are described in paragraph 3.22.

Peel approached the building.

6.103 Instead of using a noun group to refer to a place, you can use the name of the place.

This great block of land became Antarctica.

...a Baltic island roughly the size of the Isle of Man.

Outstanding examples of her work are included in an exhibition at the National Museum of Film and Photograph in Bradford.

verbs after place names 6.104 Most place names are singular nouns, although some look like plural nouns, for example 'The Netherlands'. Some place names, for example those referring to groups of islands or mountains, are plural nouns. Verbs used with place names follow the normal rules, so a singular verb form is used with a singular noun and a plural verb form with a plural noun.

Milan is the most interesting city in the world.

The Andes split the country down the middle.

place names referring to people 6.105 The name of a place can be used to refer to the people who live there. If the place name is a singular noun, a singular verb form is still used, even though the noun is being used to refer to a plural concept.

Europe was sick of war.

The name of a country or its capital city is often used to refer to the government of that country.

Britain and France jointly suggested a plan.

Washington had put a great deaf of pressure on Tokyo.

6.106 Place names can also be used to refer to a well-known historical or recent event that occurred there, such as a battle, a disaster, an international sports competition, or an important political meeting.

After Waterloo, trade and industry surged again.

...the effect of Chernobyl on British agriculture.

6.107 Many place names can be used as modifiers, to indicate where things come from or are characteristic of as well as where things are. If a place name begins with 'the', you omit it when you use the name as a modifier.

...a London hotel.

...Arctic explorers.

She has a Midlands accent.

...the New Zealand rugby team.

Note that the names of continents and of many countries cannot be used as modifiers, instead, you use classifying adjectives such as 'African' and 'Italian'.

Other uses of prepositional phrases

6.108 Prepositions are commonly used to indicate things other than place as well, for example to indicate a time, a means, or an attribute. The following paragraphs from 6.109 to 6.116 describe these uses briefly, and give cross references to fuller explanations elsewhere. The following prepositions are only or mainly used to indicate things other than place:

after as despite

during except for

like of since

until

6.109 Although the main use of prepositional phrases is to talk about position or direction, they are also used to refer to time.

The women's lacrosse tournament is at Motspur Park on Saturday.

They are expecting to announce the sale within the next few days.

The use of prepositions to talk about time is explained in paragraphs 5.99 and 5.102 to 5.107.

6.110 Prepositional phrases are also used to say something more about the manner in which an action was performed, or the way in which it should be done.

'Oh yes,' Etta sneered in an offensive way.

A bird can change direction by dipping one wing and lifting the other.

He brushed back his hair with his hand.

Prepositional phrases such as 'on foot' or 'by bus' can be used to indicate a method of travelling.

My husband got fined in Germany for crossing a road on foot.

I travelled home by bus.

The use of adverbs to talk about manner is explained in the section beginning at paragraph 6.36.

6.111 You can also use prepositional phrases to give more information about the feelings of the person performing the action.

Fanny saw with amazement that the letter was addressed to herself.

'like' and 'as' in comparison 6.112 You can use the preposition 'like' to indicate that someone or something behaves in a similar way to someone or something else.

He was panting like a bloodhound.

She shuffled like an old lady.

There is more information about comparison in general in the section beginning at paragraph 2.108.

6.113 You can also use 'like' and 'as' to say that someone or something is treated in a similar way to someone or something else. The noun group after 'like' or 'as' describes the person or thing affected by the action the person or thing doing the action.

My parents dressed me like a little doll.

Their parents continue to treat them as children.

She treated her more like a daughter than a companion.

You can also use expressions such as 'like this' or 'like that' to refer to a particular manner of doing something.

If you're going to behave like this, the best thing you can do is to go back to bed.

How dare you speak to me like that?

The use of 'like' and 'as' in subordinate clauses is explained in paragraphs 8.78 to 8.80.

6.114 You can say that one way of doing something has as much of a quality as another way of doing something, by using 'as' followed by an adverb followed by another 'as'. The second 'as' is followed by a noun group, a pronoun, an adjunct, or a clause.

The company has not grown as quickly as many of its rivals.

She wanted someone to talk to as badly as I did.

circumstances of an action 6.115 You can use prepositional phrases to indicate something about the circumstances accompanying an action.

'No,' she said with a defiant look.

...struggling to establish democracy under adverse conditions.

reason, cause or purpose 6.116 Prepositional phrases can also be used to say something about the reason for an action, or the cause or purpose of it.

In 1923, the Prime Minister resigned because of ill health.

He was dying of pneumonia.

'As' is used to indicate the function or purpose of something.

He worked as a truck driver.

During the war they used the theatre as a warehouse.