I have been in there

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Stenka25

#461612 Mon, 07 Jan 08 10:50 PM

I have been in there for hours without seeing another person.

In the above sentence, 'in' seems redundent.

Since 'there' is adverb, I don't see any good reason there to be 'in'.

Can you teach me why?

Stenka25

Joined on Thu, Jul 13 2006

Seoul, South Korea

Full Member (188)

Verbs, Adverbs

victorycountry

#461616 Mon, 07 Jan 08 11:49 PM

It's optional.

Normally, people say without 'in'

victorycountry

Joined on Sat, Oct 16 2004

Full Member (296)

Feebs11

#461617 Mon, 07 Jan 08 11:49 PM

There is not enough context to answer. Perhaps the person has been stuck in a cell for hours.

Feebs11

Joined on Thu, Nov 23 2006

Senior Member (4,919)

Hoa Thai

#461622 Tue, 08 Jan 08 12:06 AM

Hi,

It depends on context. Here is a scenario that dictates the use of in:

We arrived at the theater complex to see a movie. However, because all tickets were sold out, we could not get in. We were there (at the theater), but we were not in there. Therefore,‘in’ is used to further qualify our message.

Best wishes,
Hoa Thai

Hoa Thai

Joined on Mon, Oct 15 2007

Vietnam

Contributing Member (1,100)

Best Regards - Hoa Thai

victorycountry

#461623 Tue, 08 Jan 08 12:16 AM

Oh, yes, it depends on the scenarios.

Didn't think about it, and haste to answer and learned a lesson here.

victorycountry

Anonymous

#461687 Tue, 08 Jan 08 04:29 AM

The BELOW is the original sentence.

The library at the University of Maryland in College Park is so vast that I have been in there for hours without seeing another person.

Stenka25 wrote:

I have been in there for hours without seeing another person.

In the above sentence, 'in' seems redundent.

Since 'there' is adverb, I don't see any good reason there to be 'in'.

Can you teach me why?

Anonymous

Verbs, Adverbs, Universities

Feebs11

#461817 Tue, 08 Jan 08 01:06 PM

In which case, "in" is correctly used.

Feebs11

Stenka25

#461916 Tue, 08 Jan 08 05:06 PM

Thanks everyone.

Stenka25