place

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A particular area, building, town, or position where someone or something is or happens.

   Grammar: A countable noun: use a place or places. For an uncountable area, use room or space instead.

   Patterns

   • a place for someone/something
   • in a place
   • at a place
   • the place where ...

   This café is a nice place to relax after work.

   We stayed at a small place near the beach.

   Is there a place where I can charge my phone?

2. 2nouncountable

   A position in a queue, competition, class, or team.

   Grammar: Often used with ordinal numbers and verbs like take, get, or finish.

   Patterns

   • take first/second place
   • a place in something
   • finish in third place

   She finished in second place in the race.

   He won a place on the law course.

   There are still a few places left on the trip.

3. 3nouncountable

   A seat or spot for one person, especially at a table or in a vehicle.

   Grammar: Usually used with possessive words like my, your, or a name.

   Patterns

   • save someone's place
   • take your place
   • set a place at the table

   Please save my place while I get some water.

   The waiter showed us to our places.

   There was no place to sit on the crowded train.

4. 4nounsingularinformal

   A home or the area where someone lives or feels they belong.

   Grammar: Often used in the phrase someone's place; informal in this sense.

   Patterns

   • someone's place
   • come over to my place
   • a place of your own

   Let's meet at my place at seven.

   They finally bought a place of their own.

   He spends most weekends at his parents' place.

5. 5verbtransitive

   To put something somewhere, especially carefully or in a particular position.

   Grammar: Takes an object: place the book on the shelf. More formal than put.

   Patterns

   • place something on/in/under something
   • place something carefully
   • place something next to something

   She placed the vase carefully on the table.

   Please place your bags under the seat in front of you.

   He placed a hand on her shoulder.

6. 6verbtransitivebusiness

   To give an order for goods or services, or to arrange for something to happen.

   Grammar: Common in business: place an order, place an ad, place a bet.

   Patterns

   • place an order
   • place an advertisement
   • place a bet

   We placed an order for 200 chairs.

   The company placed an ad in the local newspaper.

   He placed a bet on the final score.

Word forms

Common combinations

take place

The meeting will take place in the main hall.

in place

Make sure the safety rules are in place.

out of place

His casual clothes looked out of place at the wedding.

place an order

You can place an order online and collect it in store.

in the first place

I wouldn't have called him in the first place if I'd known.

a place of interest

The guide showed us all the places of interest in the old town.

Synonyms and how they differ

location

More formal and often used in business or technical writing; place is the everyday word.

spot

Informal and often suggests a small or pleasant place; spot is less suitable for official contexts.

position

Focuses on the exact point something is in, not on the general area; use position when accuracy matters.

put

The everyday verb for moving something somewhere; place sounds more careful or formal.

Word family

placement noun

The act of putting something somewhere, or a job or course position arranged for someone.

displace verb

To force something out of its usual place or position.

replace verb

To put something new in the place of something else.

Commonly confused: place or room? place or place setting?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “place”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words