関係代名詞の使い方, part 6: "where"

I'm continuing to talk about relative pronouns (関係代名詞) in this post. Last time, I left you with a question. Is this sentence OK?

• London, where is the capital of the UK, has great music but bad food. <- right or wrong?

No! "Where" is a special relative pronoun. You should think of it like it has a preposition inside it. First, here's the correct version of the sentence above:

• London is the capital of the UK. It has great music but bad food.
• × London, where is the capital of the UK, has great music but bad food.
• ○ London, which is the capital of the UK, has great music but bad food.

Look at this example. You can see the preposition and how it becomes "where".

I grew up in a city. It has a population of about 200,000. <- notice the preposition, "in" in the first sentence
○ One city in which I grew up has a population of about 200,000. <- this is the formal version
○ One city which I grew up in has a population of about 200,000. <- this is the casual version which most English speakers use
○ One city where I grew up has a population of about 200,000. <- here's the version with "where"

Here's another example:

The chair is near the window. I put my bag on it.
○ The chair on which I put my bag is near the window.
○ The chair which I put my bag on is near the window. <- this is the sentence which I recommend
○ The chair where I put my bag is near the window.

Be careful about cases like this, though. The preposition in "where" is "in", "at", or "on". Don't use "where" with the the preposition "about".

You told me about a place. Let's go there.
× Let's go to the place where you told me about. <- don't use "where" to mean "about", and if you use "where", don't repeat the preposition
○ Let's go to the place that you told me about.
○ Let's go to the place which you told me about.

I was teaching in a building at this intersection. The Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi department store is also located at this intersection. Can you turn these two sentences into one sentence using "where"? Check back for the answer tomorrow!