Place clauses

8.73 Sometimes, when you want to talk about the location or position of something, you need to use a clause rather than a simple adjunct. The kind of clause you use is called a place clause.

8.74 Place clauses usually begin with 'where'.

He said he was happy where he was.

He left it where it lay.

...an official policy which encouraged people to stay where they were.

'Where' is also used in relative clauses. This use is explained in paragraphs 8.104 to 8.106.

8.75 In formal or literary English, 'where'-clauses are sometimes put in front of a main clause.

Where Kate had stood last night, Maureen now stood.

Where the pink cliffs rose out of the ground there were often narrow tracks winding upwards.

8.76 When you want to say that something happens or will happen in every place where something else happens, you use 'wherever'.

Soft-stemmed herbs and ferns spread across the ground wherever there was enough light.

In Bali, wherever you go, come across ceremonies.

Wherever I looked, I found patterns.

'Everywhere' can be used instead of 'wherever'.

Everywhere I went, people were angry or suspicious.

8.77 'Where' and 'wherever' are sometimes used in front of adjectives such as 'possible' and 'necessary'. When they are used like this, they mean 'when' or 'whenever', rather than 'where'. For a full explanation of this use, see paragraph 8.24.

Clauses of manner

8.78 When you want to talk about someone's behaviour or the wav something is done, you use a clause of manner.

Here is a list of conjunctions used in clauses of manner:

as as if

as though just as

like much as

'The way', 'in a way', and 'in the way' are also used in clauses of manner in a similar way to conjunctions. These expressions are often followed by 'that'.

saying how something is done 8.79 If you simply want to talk about someone's behaviour or the way something is done, you use 'like', 'as', 'the way', 'in a way', or 'in the way'.

Is she often rude and cross like she's been this last month?

I don't understand why he behaves as he does.

I was never allowed to do things the way I wanted to do them.

He was looking at her in a way she did not recognise.

We have to make it work in the way that we want it to.

making comparisons 8.80 You can also use these expressions to compare the way something is done with the way someone or something else does it.

Surely you don't intend to live by yourself like she does?

Joyce looted at her the way a lot of girls did.

If you want to make a strong comparison, you use 'just as'.

It swims above the sea floor just as its ancestors did.

If you want to make a fairly weak comparison, you use 'much as'.

They are endeavouring to disguise this fact much as Jasper Johns did in the late 1950s.

8.81 You sometimes want to say that something is done in the way that it would be done if something were the case. You do this by using 'as if' or 'as though'. You use a past tense in the clause of manner.

He holds his head forward as if he has hit it too often on low doorways.

President can't dispose of companies as if people didn't exist.

She treats him as though he was her own son.

He behaved as though it was nothing to be ashamed of.

You also use 'as if or 'as though' after link verbs such as 'feel' or 'look'. You do this when you are comparing someone's feelings or appearance to the feelings or appearance they would have if something were the case.

She felt as if she had a fever.

His hair looked as if it had been combed with his fingers.

Her pink dress and her frilly umbrella made her look as though she had come to a garden party.

In formal English, 'were' can be used instead of 'was' in clauses beginning with 'as if' or 'as though'.

She shook as if she were crying, but she made no sound.

I felt as if I were the centre of the universe.

You talk as though he were already condemned.

You can use 'just' in front of 'as if' or 'as though' for emphasis.

He had no right to run off and leave her alone, just as if she was someone of no importance at all.

8.82 You can also use 'as if' and 'as though' in non-finite clauses. The clause begins with a 'to'-infinitive or a participle.

As if to remind him, the church clock struck eleven.

He ran off to the house as if escaping.

He shook his head as though dazzled by his own vision.

You can also use 'as if' and 'as though' in front of adjectives and prepositional phrases.

One must row steadily onwards as if intent on one's own business.

He shivered as though with cold.