Adverbs are words or groups of words which tell time, place, frequency or manner.
I ate my lunch yesterday.
I ate at that restaurant last week.
She went there.
She went downtown.
Prepositions are usually followed by objects in prepositional phrases. They can also be used to indicate time, place, frequency, duration, reason, manner, or to show contrast.
I ate my lunch at noon.
I ate in the cafeteria.
She went to the store.
She walked into the house.
*Do not use adverbs as objects of prepositions.
Incorrect:
Correct:
I went to somewhere.
I was busy at last night.
John works in downtown.
She came to home on yesterday.
I went somewhere.
I was busy last night.
John works downtown.
She came home yesterday.
Be careful with words such as home, downtown, today, next/last week, etc. which are sometimes used as adverbs and sometimes used as nouns.
As adverbs
As nouns
I will go back tomorrow.
She went home last night.
Next week I will travel to Iowa.
Tomorrow is another day.
They built a home in Oregon.
Next week is my vacation.
