For this sentence-component we ask: "Where(to)?"

Or to be more precise: "Where is the subject when the act/event takes place?". I stressed the subject, because a phrase can also indicate the place of a direct object, e.g "I throw a ball against the wall". The part against the wall is really the place of the ball, not of me (the subject).

Elements that we do not regard as PLACE:

• "Where is the direct object" may give us a place, but not the place of the subject, which we are dealing with here. The direct object's place conveniently falls under the 'MISCELLANEOUS' category in the right part of the sentence.
• Although the adverbs er, hier and daar can perfectly indicate the position of the subject, they get their own place in a sentence. Together, they make up the EHD component, which sits at the beginning of the middle part.

The position of PLACE is at the end of the middle part. The only component that could follow after it is the direct object.

Examples

Left

Middle

Right

FF	TIME	MANNER	PLACE	OV
Kees gaat	morgen	met Ineke	naar de film	---

Tomorrow, Kees goes to the movies with Ineke.

Left

Middle

Right

FF	TIME	MANNER	PLACE	OV
Jelle heeft	vorig jaar	drie maanden	in Zuid-Afrika	gewoond

Last year, Jelle lived in South-Africa for three months.

To determine PLACE, we ask "Where was Jelle (subject) during the event?" The construction 'drie maanden' means 'for three months'. Since it does not answer the question "When?" but rather "How long?", it is a 'how-element' (MANNER).

Left

Middle

Right

FF	TIME	MANNER	PLACE	OV
Hij is	vrijdag	de hele avond	op kantoor	gebleven

Friday, he stayed at the office all night.

It is easy to see that PLACE is 'op kantoor'.

Left

Middle

Right

FF	TIME	MANNER	DIROB	MISC	OV
Ik heb	gisteren	per ongeluk	mijn sleutels	in de gracht	laten vallen

Yesterday, I accidentally dropped my keys in the canal.

In de gracht (in the canal) is the place of the keys (direct object), which falls under the MISCELLANEOUS category. This phrase does not contain a PLACE element, because the place of the subject is not defined (although we can assume the subject was standing next to the canal).

Left

Middle

Right

FF	PLACE	DIROB	MISC	OV
Wij hebben	thuis	een antieke klok	aan de muur	hangen

At home, we have an antique clock (hanging) on the wall.

Two points about the above sentence:

1. Aan de muur (on the wall) is clearly the place of the direct object, not of the subject.
2. In the above example, there is no action or event. Many phrases, do not express an event, but a stable situation. If you ask "where does the event of having a clock (hanging on your wall) take place?", we could reply "Any place where we happen to be". Whether we are in India or in Mexico, we will still be having this antique clock hanging on our wall at home (hopefully). However, despite this minor flaw, we will still regard thuis (at home) as a PLACE element.