Most adverbials of place are prepositional phrases:
• They are in France at present.
• Come and sit next to me.
But we also use adverbs:
abroad
ahead
away
downstairs
here
indoors
nearby
next door
out of doors
overseas
there
upstairs
They are abroad at present.
Come and sit here.
We use adverbials of place to describe location, direction and distance.
Location
We use adverbials to talk about where someone or something is:
He was standing by the table.
You'll find it in the cupboard.
You'll find it inside.
Sign your name here – at the bottom of the page.
Stand here.
They used to live nearby.
Direction
We use adverbials to talk about the direction in which someone or something is moving:
Walk past the bank and keep going to the end of the street.
It's difficult to get into the car because the door is so small.
They always go abroad for their holidays.
Distance
We use adverbials to show how far things are:
Birmingham is 250 kilometres from London.
We live in Birmingham. London is 250 kilometres away.
We often have an adverbial of place at the end of a clause:
The door is very small, so the car is difficult to get into.
We're in Birmingham. London is 250 kilometres away.
Our house is down a muddy lane, so it's very difficult to get to.