Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

river1974 · Joined: 20 May 2003 Posts: 525 Location: Taiwan

Dear teachers:

(a) This is the city *where* I was born.
(b) This is the city *in which* I was born.
(c) This is the city *wherein* I was born.

Do the above have the same meaning?

Thanks.

asterix · Joined: 26 Jan 2003 Posts: 1654

missdaredevil · Joined: 08 Dec 2004 Posts: 1670 Location: Ask me

asterix · Joined: 26 Jan 2003 Posts: 1654

No... It doesn't work.

river1974 · Joined: 20 May 2003 Posts: 525 Location: Taiwan

This is the city in which I was born.

rewrite:
(a) This is the city which I was born in.
(b) I was born in this city.

It really doesn't work to replace "in" with "of".

missdaredevil · Joined: 08 Dec 2004 Posts: 1670 Location: Ask me

Could anyone explain why?
*of and in* confuses me a lot

Thanks

stellara · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 583 Location: germany

hm, maybe like river already wrote, if you could use "of" then you could write "i was born of this city" and that's wrong at first, and secondly does it sound as if the city had born you, which is definitely strange Laughing

because your parents have done this.
with places you mostly say "in" not "of".
i can't exlain the general difference between in and of because for me it depends on the situation.. sorry1

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