Talk:where

Relative adverb

I don't think this classifies as a conjuction, more as a relative adverb.

In American English, it’s a conjunction. Never heard of a relative adverb before. —Stephen 00:41, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

The first example given under the "conjunction" catagory merely shows a sentence with an objective phrasal noun.

[He]subject [knows]verb [where he's going.]direct object

In sentences like this, no single word in the predicate may be parsed as the direct object. Rather, the entire phrase paraphrastic(al)ly represents the object. In this respect, "where" might very well be thought of as a relative pronoun (I believe "relative adverb" was a misnomer for "relative pronoun" owing to the fact that many pronouns, when used as indirect objects, assume adverbial properties) succe(e)ding the implied object "the place". However, whereas the anteceda(e)nt does not appear in the sentence, "where" may not truly be parsed as a relative pronoun. The other example demonstrates a like construct in which "where he belongs" paraphrastic(al)ly describes implied "there". Though, in this case, "where he belongs" is not the direct object but an adjective pronoun describing the subject or, if I may, an "adjective phrasal noun". Now, while Webster classifies "where" in this use as a conjunction, it also incongruously defines a conjunction as "an uninflected linguistic form that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases, or words".

As I see it, the only way "where" might be used as a conjunction is in the place of "whereas" thus:

Where Susy has trouble coloring inside the lines, Johnny has already mastered shading.

[Where]conjunction [Susy has trouble coloring inside the lines,]dependent clause [Johnny has already mastered shading.]independent clause

Therefor, barring any objections, I will substitute my example for the current ones.--Jr mints 16:12, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes indeed, where certainly often functions as an adverb. Widsith 16:14, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Jr mints, accept that grammar has progressed since you were in high school. Look at this:

The mouse ate the wheat. The cat ate it.. "it" is there a personnal pronoun, replacing "the mouse". In the sentence The cat ate the mouse that ate the wheat., "that" is a relative pronoun, because it's still a pronoun, but also links the two clauses.

In Where is he going?, "where" is an interrogative adverb. In He knows where he is going., "where" is still an adverb, but also links the two clauses, so it's called a relative adverb. A purely grammatical tool word which only links a clauses to the verb of another one, without adding any meaning, is a conjunction, such as "that" in I didn't know that Bill had left.. But a relative adverb bears in itself a meaning.

In other words, a word which is both a conjunction and an adverb is called a relative adverb, like a word which is both a pronoun and a conjunction is called a relative pronoun. So I add the relative adverb.--Henri de Solages 14:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Whether grammar has "progressed" or not is irrelevant to how we entries are presented. The two-word part-of-speech headings introduced are not part of our format for English (and all other languages which do not have an explicitly permitted set of additional headings), which may be seen at WT:ELE. As to whether where is a conjunction, see most English dictionaries. Accordingly, I have rolled back all of the changes which were premised on the headings be acceptable.

If you would like to propose changes in WT:ELE, please open a discussion at WT:BP. DCDuring TALK 19:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

The adverb section contains

(relative) At which, on which.

That is the place where we first met.

Here “where we first met” is a subordinate adjectival clause modifying “place”. The subordinate conjunction linking them is “where”. So this example should be moved to the section on uses as a conjunction. Loraof (talk) 15:02, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

Relative use

There's no mention of the relative use of where, as in "He returned to the city where he was born". Angr 17:34, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Just done. (You could have done it yourself.) --Henri de Solages 14:57, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Just undone. Presentation of relative use is inadequate. DCDuring TALK 19:03, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

relative pronoun

Where in the article is there any mention of the use of "where" as a RELATIVE PRONOUN?   AugPi 17:05, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

wherever

Does the meaning "wherever" also apply in wherever? --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:56, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

that

I read where they're closing down the paper mill.
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=where

--Backinstadiums (talk) 15:05, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

In which

Show me an example where increasing supply has actually increased demand.
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=where

--Backinstadiums (talk) 15:07, 26 August 2020 (UTC)