Differences between where, where, where, where, where and where

the word where It is very important in the Spanish language. It is a adverb that expresses place.

Now, why does it sometimes have an accent and other times not? And why does it sometimes have the preposition to in the same word and others separately?

Surely you have asked yourself these questions more than once. Well today you are in luck. All these doubts will be resolved in this article.

Let's explain to you how the adverb works where in all possible situations.

It's going to be a very advanced grammar article, intended for students of Spanish with a intermediate – high level.

Would you like to delve deeper into Spanish grammar at a top level? Then you need to come to our spanish courses in Hispania, Spanish school.

In these classes you will learn everything you need to be able to communicate in Spanish in real life. All in a sociable and happy environment.

Where are you going to find a better place to learn Spanish?

Surely nowhere. talking about where, we said that we were going to talk about this adverb, right? 

Well come on, let's hit it!

First let's explain to you where, where and where to with accent

Where, where, where: Interrogative and exclamatory adverbs

When the adverbs where, where or where to they have an accent, they are about interrogative or exclamatory adverbs. 

That is, they are used to ask or show emphasis.

Let's look at the meaning of each word separately.

Where: In what place

Generally, the adverb where with accentmeansin what place.

Used to ask or exclaimwhere the action is done.

Examples:

• ¿WhereAre you planning to spend your vacation this year?
• ¿Whereyou found that book so interesting
• ¿Whereyou currently live
• ¿WhereDid you learn to play the guitar so well?
• I can't see you. ¡Whereare!

Areinterrogative and exclamatory sentencesaredirect. That is, they have question marks and exclamation marks.

But alsoThere are interrogative and exclamatory sentences.indirect. These are made in the middle of an affirmative sentence and do not carry the signs. 

However, adverbs maintain their accent because they are still considered interrogative and exclamatory.

Examples:

• I'm curious to knowwhereYou found that amazing deal.
• I would like to discoverwhereYou learned to play the guitar so well.
• I wonderwhereI'll get a copy of that interesting book.

Where / To where: To what place

So muchwhere to aswhere toare thetwo correctand they are used for the same thing. Both ask or exclaim the place to which the action is directed.(to what place).

They always go withverbs of motionwho carry theprepositionto. 

The most common verb isgonna, but there are many more: get on, head to, drive to, carry to, travel to, move to, etc.

These verbs are also considereddirection or destination verbs, and they always carry theprepositionto.

Examples:

• ¿Where todoes this elevator go up?
• Stay still. ¡Where toyou go!
• ¿Where toDid your friends move recently?
• ¿where Will you take your guests?
• ¿where lead this road?

As you see, in the examples we have used where to and where indistinctly. They work just as well.

Of course, be careful and don't use the verb be with the preposition to. It's a common mistake people make, but be never takes to to talk about places:

• ¿where is it your brother? ❌
• ¿where is your brother? ✅

We can also do indirect questions with where to and where:

Examples:

• I don't know where your thoughts are lately.
• I would like to discover where to your old neighbors moved away.
• I'm curious to know where to takes this path.

These prayers They do not have question marks because they are not made with the tone of a question, but they are also considered as interrogative sentences.

Where, where, where: Relative adverbs of place

Now we are going to explain to you when they are used where, to where or where without accent. The three are relative adverbs of place.

These relative adverbs introduce subordinate clauses. 

Subordinate clauses serve to give descriptions or new actions that are related to the main clause.

Let's see all the situations in which we can use where as a relative adverb.

Uses of where

where like relative adverb of place can be used in many ways. We list them all:

With antecedent referring to a place

The antecedent would be the place of main sentenceabout which we are going to give new information in the relative clause.

Examples:

• Roberto is looking for a restaurant where they serve vegan food.
• Sara lives in a neighborhood where there are hardly any cars.
• Carmen studies at a school where many cultural activities take place.

The blue sentence is the relative. 

What is the background of the above examples? The places that are marked in the main sentences: a restaurant, a neighborhood and a school.

If you look at the previous examples, the first sentence has the subordinate verb in the subjunctive. However, in the other two, the verb is in the indicative.

Because? It is important that you know this. 

When the subject of the main sentence know the background, the verb of the relative clause goes in indicative.

In the examples, Sara lives in a neighborhood she knows and Carmen studies at a school she knows. Therefore in indicative.

On the other hand, if the subject does not know the background, the verb of the relative clause must go in subjunctive.

In the first example, Roberto is looking for a restaurant, therefore it means that he does not know it yet. That is why the verb of the relative clause is put in the subjunctive: serve.

Is it clear? It is very important that you understand this!

Another interesting thing to keep in mind is that, when we have an antecedent, the relative adverb where also can be replaced for the following:

• In which, in which, in which, in which.
• In which, in which, in which, in which.
• In what.

The sentences from before with these adverbs would be like this:

• Roberto is looking for a restaurant in which They serve vegan food.
• Sara lives in a neighborhood in which there are hardly any cars.
• Carmen studies at a school in which many activities are done.

No precedent

We can also have relative clauses with the adverb where no precedent.

We put it right after the verb of the main sentence.

Examples:

• I live where you live.
• Work where is the Mestalla.
• we meet where we met for the first time.

In the prayers we have where no precedent, we could replace this adverb with in the place whereand:

• we meet in the place where we met for the first time.

Somewhere where / Nowhere where

These two structures they don't have a express antecedent and they usually go with verbs have and have. 

Examples: 

• do you know somewhere where Is there internet near here?
• I can't find nowhere where have free parking.

Uses of where / where

To where / where are used with verbs of motion or destination that have the preposition to. 

Remember that some verbs that express direction with to Typical are: go to, come to, go up to, move to, move to, leave for, go to, etc.

As with the interrogative and exclamatory adverb, the two forms They are totally correct and they can be used in the same way.

With precedent

where and to where They can go in movement sentences that have an antecedent:

• the city where are you goingIt's beautiful.
• The clinic where I'm headed It's from my best friend.
• The place where are we going is close.

No precedent

Likewise, they can also go no precedent:

• I go wherever you want.
• she always comes where he tells him.

These sentences and the previous ones could be replaced by to the place that and they would mean the same thing.

• I go to the place that you want

Other prepositions

Furthermore, you should know that due to the circumstances of the verbs, the word where can carry other prepositions. 

In these cases, we do not put the preposition to. We cannot put two prepositions together.

• He looked to where the sound could be heard. ❌
• He looked to where the sound could be heard. ✅
• we will go where the train passes ❌
• we will go where the train passes ✅

It is possible to say to where, where, from where…but never where! 

where is incorrect, instead we simply say where.

This use of where with prepositions applies in the same way when we use where as an interrogative adverb.

Doubts to take into account

Now you know how to use correctly where, where, where, where, where and where. Bravo! 👏🏻

As a recap, we are going to highlight again some of the most frequent doubts regarding this topic. This way it will be very clear to you.

All correct: Where and where / Where and where

Remember that the two forms with the preposition toThey are completely correct, whether it is an interrogative or exclamatory adverb or a subordinate clause adverb.

Use both without problems!

Preposition to with verbs of movement

The preposition to It is only used when it goes with movement verbs that need it.

Examples: 

• Where did you go last night?
• I will go with you where we can be happy.
• Where will you travel this summer?
• Wherever I go, I will always remember you.

Interrogatives and exclamatives with an accent

Remember that the interrogative adverbs and exclamatory They always have an accent to mark the place about which the question is asked or emphasis is placed.

• Where we are is a wonderful place!
• Where did you meet?
• You still don't know where to go on Saturday?
• Well we're done. 

Has it been helpful to you? It is a somewhat complicated topic, especially because of the subordinate clauses. 

So take it easy and don't get frustrated. 

These are difficult aspects of Spanish grammar and ideally you will take classes with expert teachers, as in Hispania, Spanish school.

Do you have any more questions? If so, don't hesitate to write it in the comments.

See you!

Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school. 

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