Here / There

Question

Usually, here and there are not used as nouns.

And, then how come these 2 setences are correct?

1. Here is where you pay. (here as a subject noun)

2. There is where we live. (there as a subject noun)

Is it because highly frequent uses make such errors correct?

Appreciated.

Mudclay · Accepted Answer

Here and There can never be subjects.

Thanks

Mister Micawber · Answer

Is it because highly frequent uses make such errors correct?-- No; it is because they can also be nouns.

Here: noun: the present location; this place ("Where do we go from here?")
There: noun: a location other than here; that place ("You can take it from there")

Anonymous · Answer

I HAVE CHECKED MY GRAMMAR BOOKS BEFORE POSTING

(1) I believe that here in your sentence is still being used as an adverb.

(a) One book explains that sometimes we place here first as an

exclamation.

Tom: Where do we pay?

Martha: Let me check. Oh, look! HERE is where we pay!

Here must be stressed (pronounced loudly).

***

Sometimes here starts a sentence, but it is not an adverb. It means

something like this:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Here/this is the news.

(a) When used this way, some grammar books call it an

expletive.

(b) When used this way, we do not stress here.

Kl004535 · Answer

(another anon)

If 'here' and 'there' are nouns, then the below should be correct.

1. Here is terrible.

2. Did you like there.

However, they may be wrong. I have never heard of anyone saying that before.

Can they really be nouns as well?

Thank you no end

CalifJim · Answer

kl004535If 'here' and 'there' are nouns, then the below should be correct.
1. Here is terrible.
2. Did you like there.

True. They "should be" correct, but they're not. It seems to me that if you use here or there as nouns in what appears to be subject position, you are limited to only a few ways of continuing the sentence, normally "is where ..." or "is the place where ..." or some noun that refers to a place: "Here is the bank", "There is the police station", "Here are the gardens I told you about", etc. Personally, I think of the noun phrase after the linking verb as the true subject, because that's what the verb agrees with.

CJ

Here / There

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