 Adverbs and Prepositions This free English lesson is sponsored by the following English learning sites. Adverbs and Prepositions in English Adverbs and Prepositions can be a little complicated in English. This video will describe some of the problems non-native speakers have with these words and demonstrate how to deal with them. Can you tell the problems with these sentences? 1. Jill went to there last Wednesday. 2. I was busy at last night. 3. John works in downtown. 4. She came to home yesterday. 5. Mr. Smith went to somewhere. All of these sentences have problems with adverbs and prepositions. Corrections. Jill went there last Wednesday. I was busy last night. John works downtown. She came home yesterday. Mr. Smith went somewhere. Did you notice the problems? Simply put, prepositions usually require an object. Adverbs do not. For example, mistake. With an adverb. With a preposition. She went to there. Incorrect. She went there. She went to the store. I ate sushi at last night. Incorrect. I ate sushi last night. I ate sushi at 7 o'clock. Tim went to downtown. Incorrect. Tim went downtown. Tim went to the city. Dad came to home late. Incorrect. Dad came home late. He came to the house. Using adverbs of location. Some of the most common mistakes are with adverbs of location. These words are used alone in sentences to describe where something takes place. The millers are here. She lives over there. They work downtown. He is coming home. We don't normally say adverbs with prepositions. For example, incorrect. Correct. Special cases. Come to here. Incorrect. Come here. Correct. Come in here. Put it at there. Incorrect. Put it there. Correct. Put it in there. I'm not going to anywhere. Incorrect. I'm not going anywhere. Correct. Special cases. Come here. Come to where I am standing. Come in here. Come into this room. Put it in there. In that place, the closet. The words home and downtown are kind of tricky. Some words like home and downtown can function as different parts of speech. See the examples below. Millie came here this weekend. Adverb of location. Millie came home this weekend. Adverb of location. Millie came to home this weekend. Incorrect usage. Millie came to my house this weekend. Prepositional phrase. The word home in some cases is used as a noun and can function as an object. This may seem a bit confusing. Look at more examples below. Billy was here last week. Adverb of location. Billy was home last week. Adverb of location. Billy was at his house last week. Prepositional phrase. Billy was at his home last week. Prepositional phrase. Billy was at home last week. Prepositional phrase. Just remember that we don't use home as the object of prepositions like to and in. Jimmy is in home today. Incorrect. The word downtown can function as an adverb, adjective or noun. Downtown usually functions as an adverb. See the following examples. Sandy works here. Adverb. Sandy works over there. Adverb. Sandy works downtown. Adverb. She goes to downtown every day. Incorrect. She goes downtown every day. Correct. Downtown can sometimes function as an adjective or a noun. Sandy works in the downtown area. Adjective. She takes the downtown bus. Adjective. Downtown is where the action is. Noun. Adverbs and prepositions of time. Adverbs and prepositions of time. Another instance of adverbs and prepositions being used incorrectly is with time words. For example. Incorrect. Correct. Also correct. At last night. Incorrect. Last night. Correct. At 7.30 p.m. In next week. Incorrect. Next week. Correct. In a week. Also correct. At yesterday. Incorrect. Yesterday. Correct. Ready for some practice? Tell whether the following sentences are correct or not. You can write your answers on a piece of paper. Feel free to pause the video if you'd like more time. Let's check the answers. I went home last night. Come here right now. Tammy isn't home at the moment. I went downtown to see a concert. The movie started at 9 p.m. She had a party at her home yesterday. Take the dog for a walk somewhere. Put the boxes in there for now. Last night I saw a new video. All of these are the corrected sentences. To learn more, check out our playlists and other English learning videos. And if you have an idea for our next video, please let us know. Thanks for watching. For more information, check out these websites. Or click on the link in the description below.