Is 'in' needed in the sentence?

[Tan Elaine]

The places they dwell (in) are far from the city.

Is 'in' needed in the above sentence?

Thanks.

[5jj]

Yes. 'Dwell' has a slightly old-fashioned ring to me - I'd use 'live'. In fact, depending on the context, I'd use one of:

Their homes are far/a long way/some distance/etc from the city.
They live far/a long way/some distance/etc from the city.

some/a considerable distance/a great distance

[bhaisahab]

If you want to use "dwell" which, as 5jj says, has an old-fashioned ring to it, you could say "The places in which they dwell..." which has the merit of being consistently old-fashioned.

[jahildebrandt]

Not a teacher.

I'd be inclined to disagree and say that "in" seems a bit redundant since most things tend to dwell in something anyway. In other words, "The places they dwell are far from the city" seems like an acceptable sentence to me.

I'd be interested to see the rationale behind any objections. (I don't have any problems with bhaisahab's alternate structuring of the sentence.)

[SlickVic9000]

*Not a Teacher*

I second jahildebrant's opinion.

[Tdol]

Maybe it's a BrE/AmE difference, but it sounds incomplete without the preposition to me- in that grey area where things sound odd but not quite an error.

[SoothingDave]

I agree that it sounds wrong without some preposition.

"The places where they dwell" sounds OK. "The places they dwell in" or The places in which they dwell" as well.

But "The places they dwell?" No. It is making "places" an object of the verb "dwell," but dwell is intransitive.

[Tdol]

And They dwell Lisbon/the flat on the third floor/the place sound like an error to me.