Here and There

[Unregistered]

Can you explain the uses of here and there? We can say "I live here" but not "I like here." We can say "This place is terrible." and "It is terrible here." but not "Here is terrible."

Swan's Practical English Usage, (Oxford, 3rd ed.) says here and there are not normally used as nouns (p. 224), but here can be used as a subject in sentences as common as "Here is where we’ll plant the roses. or "Here is your book."

 

[apex2000]

Can you explain the uses of here and there? We can say "I live here" but not "I like here." We can say "This place is terrible." and "It is terrible here." but not "Here is terrible."

Swan's Practical English Usage, (Oxford, 3rd ed.) says here and there are not normally used as nouns (p. 224), but here can be used as a subject in sentences as common as "Here is where we’ll plant the roses. or "Here is your book."

I live here (here = 'in this place' or similar).
I like it here (here = in this place).
Here, it is terrible (here is an interjection).
The uses of here and there can be idiomatic. It is what those two adverbs are standing in for that explains the sense of use. Here and there reflect opposite positions, not opposing positions, giving a sense of location where the difference may be quite small ( say inches apart) or far apart (here may be in London and there could be anywhere else in the world). In the sense that they replace a noun, a phrase, an idea they easily describe that noun, phrase or idea. They should not be regarded as nouns in a proper sense.
This place here is terrible. Here gives emphasis to place.
Here is where we'll plant the roses, or, this is where we'll plant the roses - this spot, place, garden, field or similar is the sense of here, the nouns that here 'replaces'.
Here is your book. Here/there is a direction to the object.

 

[Buddhaheart]

‘Here’ in "I live here.” is an adverb that modifies ‘live’. It means in this place or at this place. ‘Like’ as a verb is usually used in a transitive manner. That is a DO (direct object) is required to follow it to make the sentence meaningful. In "I like here," ‘here’ is used as a noun. As M. Swan suggests ‘here’ is not used as a noun these days. You can say “I like this place.” ‘Place’ is the DO. Informally we still hear people say “I like here." and “Get away from here.”

In "Here is terrible,” again ‘here’ is used as a noun. This perhaps is not acceptable anymore. In “Here is where we’ll plant the roses,” ‘here’ functions as an adverb and not a noun. You could see this more clearly by arranging the sentence to read “Where we’ll plant the roses is here.” ‘Here’ again means in this place or at this place.

Mind you, I do see ‘here’ listed as both a noun and adverb in some dictionaries but not in others.