Learn English – I was there by your side vs I was by your side there

word-order

  1. She was by my side in the building.

  2. She was in the building by my side.

The first sentence says that she was in the building, and she was staying beside me.

The second sentence says that she was in the building that was by my side.

But the sentences below do not work like that.

3.I was there by your side.

4.I was by your side there.

Comparing the third sentence to the second sentence, I should comprehend the third sentence as saying that I was there that was by your side. And the fourth one should mean that I was by your side when I was there. But the third one means that I was by your side when I was there, and the fourth one doesn't make much sense to me. I don't even know if the fourth one is grammatically correct. Can you guys provide any explanation?

Best Answer

Let's re-order the sentences and transpose 3 and 4 to the same persons as 1 and 2:

  1. She was by my side in the building.
  2. She was by my side there.
  3. She was in the building by my side.
  4. She was there                  by my side.

1 and 2 say the same kind of thing: She was close to me at some place.
3 and 4 say the same kind of thing: She was at some place close to me.

In sentence 3, the place (inside a building) might be some distance from you even if the building is close to you (at your side), while in sentence 4 the place (there) refers to the same place that's next to you (at your side).

P.S. In view of the OP's question whether "I was by your side there" makes sense, I offer the following dialog

A: My memory has been affected by the accident. Where was I?
B: You were in the hospital.
A: Where were you?
B: I was by your side there.

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