Using 'where' in relative clauses

[mesmark]

While the ideas I read were really interesting, to be honest I'm still confused and wondering how they impact on my teaching. There seems to be some debate as to how exactly we use 'where' in relative clauses and so I'd like to know: how do you teach this point to your students?

I think it's more important that the students understand the chunk 'where I buy food' before we start to insert it.

I would work with some examples of that construction.
That supermarket is (where I buy food.)
HE Hospital is (where I get my check-ups.)
The park is (where the neighborhood kids play.)
That book store is (where they sell those files.)
or
The park is (where)(the neighborhood kids play.)
That bookstore is (where)(they sell those files.)

I would then later build to the (place)(where - sentence about place)

That book store, where they sell those files, has the hottest PhDs hanging out there.

You can even start with some chunks 'where- sentence' and have the students make examples like the ones above. Sort of reverse engineering.

'where I study'
-->> my room, school, the library, the park ...
'where my brother goes on Saturdays'
-->> the supermarket, the library, the mall ...

[geordie]

Nic - In your original message you wrote:
`I can`t find any reference to this in any of the grammar books`
Have you managed to find a reference yet?
I think you can find a reasonable answer in the functional grammar book of Kolln & Funk `Understanding English Grammar`
`Some adjectival clauses are introduced not by relative pronouns but by relative adverbs`where,when and why`. In these clauses the relative replaces an adverbial structure in its clause. p.145.
Hope this helps. I wrestled with this problem for a long time.