Adverbial relative clause - where

Question

1. That's the gas station at which I'm working now.

1.1. That's the gas station which I'm working at now.

2. That's the gas station where I'm working now.

2.1. That's the gas station where I'm working at now.

It is said, preposition + which(an adverbial relative clause) can become where, when, or why.

Q) Then, can't No.2.1 be grammatical?

One more question.

3. That's the motel we stayed.

3.1. That's the motel where we stayed.

Are 3 and 3.1 the same?

BillJ · Accepted Answer

moon72961. That's the gas station at which I'm working now.
1.1. That's the gas station which I'm working at now.
2. That's the gas station where I'm working now.
2.1. That's the gas station where I'm working at now.
It is said, preposition + which(an adverbial relative clause) can become where, when, or why.
Q) Then, can't No.2.1 be grammatical?

Example 2. can be represented as: "That's the gas station" + "I'm working at the gas station now", in which "where" means "the gas station". The "at" component is contributed by "where" (together with its spatial location function), so a second "at" is not necessary. Which is why example 2.1 is technically incorrect.

moon7296One more question.
3. That's the motel we stayed.
3.1. That's the motel where we stayed.
Are 3 and 3.1 the same?

Yes, in terms of meaning. But grammatically 3. is incorrect because either "in/at" or "in/at which" has been omitted. So "that's the motel (that) we stayed in/at", "That's the motel which we stayed in/at" and "That's the motel in/at which we stayed" would be grammatically correct alternatives to 3.1.

A small point: it's not the relative clause that's adverbial, but just the relative word "where". In all of your examples, the relative clauses are serving as modifiers of the noun phrases "the gas station" or "the motel".

BillJ

Anonymous · Answer

1. That's the gas station at whichI'm working now.

1.1. That's the gas station which I'm working at now.

2. That's the gas station where I'm working now.

2.1. That's the gas station where I'm working at now.

It is said, preposition + which(an adverbial relative clause) can become where, when, or why.

Q) Then, can't No.2.1 be grammatical?

--> I think that's correct. Still, you can find it very rarely in colloquial English...

One more question.

3. That's the motel we stayed.

3.1. That's the motel where we stayed.

Are 3 and 3.1 the same?

-> No, because 3 should be "That's the motel we stayed at." The reason is that you just leave out the word "which"; you also can't leave out when or why... it's the same with where

If you change this, it'll be the same.

Moon7296 · Answer

<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>Thank you for contiributing to the question

Moon7296 · Answer

1. I wanted to go where no one recognise.

I think 'where' in #1 is quite different from examples 1~3 I drew.

I don't think it can be chopped like the examples above.

Q1) How should I serve it?

Moon7296 · Answer

2. Korea is where 2002 World Cup games were held.

Should I think of 'where' in #1 as anywhere and in #2 as the place where=the place in which?

Adverbial relative clause - where

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