I walk about here

[hirashin]

Hello, again. Would someone help me again?

I've often seen the phrase "around here", but can it be replaced
by "about here"?

Would both sentences be used interchangeably?
(a) I walk around here every morning.
(b) I walk about here every morning.

How about these?
(c) I walk near here every morning.
(d) I walk in this neighborhood every morning.

Hirashin

 

[JimmySeal]

a, b, and d are ok. The use of "about" to mean "in the vicinity of a physical place" is a somewhat British-sounding usage.

c would be ok if the "here" it is referring to is a specific place (e.g. a storefront, a house, a school) rather than a general area.

 

[ClarkH]

A, C, and D sound good. B sounds strange.

We rarely use 'about' as 'around' in our normal conversation. I think it is more common to use the word that way in the United Kingdom. The most common way I can think of using the word that way in American conversation is when someone asks, "where about?" meaning, "around where?" This is common and natural. There are other situations where we can naturally use 'about' this way, but it's not common.

 

[Glenn]

I thought a), c), and d) sounded OK, but b) sounded strange.

 

[Subculture]

In the United Kingdom it is common to say about and around in these situations. Though some times it can just sound a little off but it's unlikely anyone would mention it either way. A,B,C, all sound fine. You could change D to "I walk (around/about/down/near/through) this neighbourhood every morning."

 

[hirashin]

Thank you for your help, Jimmy, Clark, Glenn, and Subculture. It seems that
using "about here" is British. Americans don't say that. OK.

I have a question for Subculture.

A,B,C, all sound fine. You could change D to "I walk (around/about/down/near/through) this neighbourhood every morning."

So you can say all these sentences?
I walk around this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk about this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk down this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk near this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk through this neighbourhood every morning.

Is D incorrect as it is?

Hirashin

 

[Subculture]

Yes you are able to say all those sentences.
English is very flexible so D is not incorrect however it does sound off. It's probable that some people say D but it isn't something you would hear often.

 

[hirashin]

Thank you for your help, Subculture.

According to your profile, you are from Brighton, England.
Were you born and raised there?

I suppose your city is full of tourists from all over the world.

Hirashin

 

[Subculture]

I was born in Cambridge, East England. I have however lived in Brighton for a few years and it has a lot of tourists and foreign students as there are a lot of language schools here.

 

[Wardie1993]

Thank you for your help, Jimmy, Clark, Glenn, and Subculture. It seems that
using "about here" is British. Americans don't say that. OK.

I have a question for Subculture.



So you can say all these sentences?
I walk around this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk about this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk down this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk near this neighbourhood every morning.
I walk through this neighbourhood every morning.

Is D incorrect as it is?

Hirashin

D isnt incorrect but it sounds odd, usually you say where you walk every morning, if you walk somewhere else you usually say you walk through/around/about the place you walk about, not a place near to the place you walk about

 

[FrustratedDave]

Why is D strange?
If I said to someone,
"I walk in that neighbourhood every morning" after we were talking about a certain place it would be perfectly fine and not sound strange at all.
So it would be fair to say that instead of "that" you could replace it with "this"

 

[Wardie1993]

"I walk near this neighbourhood" sounds strange, you dont say you walk near somewhere like a neighbourhood, usually you say where you through. Like if i walk through Rawcliffe id say "I would through Rawcliffe every morning" not "I walk near Clifton every morning"

 

[Mike Cash]

I've given up on you ever writing intelligible English on most of the forum, but would you at least please try in the "Learning English" section? At a glance it is hard to tell if you're giving advice or just demonstrating how desperately you need it yourself.

 

[ClarkH]

"I walk near Shibuya every morning" sounds perfectly natural.

 

[EriAki]

If you are describing the route you are taking when you walk somewhere, I would say:

I walk through (place name/here) every morning
I walk past (place name/here) every morning


I would not say 'I walk about'; to 'walk about' would be casual, for example, if you are bored you may 'walk about for a while' to waste time. Though I would not use this at all.