which or where (He was thinking of places which/were had not been searched)

[Morteza]

Hi,
According to" search smwhere/search for smb or smth",I think it's better to use
"where" instead of "which" in the following sentence:
He was thinking of places which had not been searched.
Many thanks,
Morteza
P.S.This sentence was corrected before by Alan and Mister.

[Mister Micawber]

.
Then what is your problem? Why must we repeat? As we said, 'where' is wrong; it is an adverb and cannot serve as subject for 'be searched'.
.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Morteza]

Hi Mister,
I've checked several grammar books,and I've found out ''where" can serve as a relative pronoun.Now,I wonder if we can also consider "where" as a correct choice.
Besides,if "which" is correct,what happens to ''for''?I've got completely mixed-up;I think this confusion stems from the verb formula of "search"!
I would be so grateful if you could help me to analyse this grammatical point?
Regards,
Morteza

[Mister Micawber]

.
Once again, it is not a correct choice here.

I looked in a place where I had not searched.-- 'where' is an adverb.
I looked where I had not searched.-- 'where' is a pronoun.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Prezbucky]

As Mr. Micawber has twice proclaimed, "where" doesn't fit in this case.

"where" is meant to show location:

Where is Elm Street?

Please tell me where it is.

Where there are men there will also be beer.

Now look at some of the standard uses of "which":

That which (what) is good is better than that which sucks.

This tree, which only yesterday seemed to have been condemned to death, is now sprouting new leaves.

Which cookie would you rather eat -- chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin?
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[pankaj_1784@yahoo.com]

use of to+gerund

[Mister Micawber]

.
This only occurs with certain verb phrase constructions like 'look forward to (doing)'-- which is the only one I can think of at the moment.
.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Morteza]

Hi Dear Mister,
I really thank you for making it clear.Now I've got completely convinced. :idea:
However,I don't still agree with you about the function of "where" in this example: I looked in a place where I had not searched.-- 'where' is an adverb.
I think "where" is a relative pronoun,and it has made an adj clause for its previous noun ''a place".Am I mistaken?
Many thanks,
Morteza

[HamburgEnglish]

If I understand here what is being said.... I would like to add ..

pronoun, verb, adjective ................ why dwell on these words. Lets get practical here !!!!!!!!

I looked in a place where I had not searched. is perfectly ok in the English language and is used by native speakers all over the world.

However that, that has already been said is not incorrect either. (smile)

Here is another way of saying it.

I looked in a place, a place where I had not looked.

If I have not understood ... Sorry.

[Morteza]

Hi everybody,
"I enjoyed the hotel where we stayed."
"where" is here an adv or a (relative)pronoun???
Rgd,
Morteza

[HamburgEnglish]

Does it really matter?

[Alan]

Hi,

It seems to!

'I enjoyed the hotel where we stayed' means in effect 'the hotel in/at which we stayed' and in that case 'where' beomes a relative.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Prezbucky]

Morteza, to my ear your sentence du jour is best rendered thusly:

(and I apologize for not catching it the first time)

"He was thinking of places THAT had not been searched."

Think of how the second half of the sentence is best conveyed:

"where had not been searched" -- no way... out of the question
"which had not been searched" -- technically okay, but still lacking
"that had not been searched" -- and BINGO was his name-o
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Morteza]

Hi guys,
Thank you so much!
And my special thanks to Dear Alan,a kind and knowledgeable tutor.
Best regards,
Morteza