Location of a thing or a person

"I watch TV in the room."
D. The following are some nouns of place used in a phrase indicating a location.

1 „ shokudoo "cafeteria"
daigaku "university"
heya "room", etc.
2 „ koko "here"
soko "there" or "the hearer's area"
asoko "over there"
doko "where"
3 „ Ruin san no tokoro "place where Mr. Lwin is" "MrLwin's place."
Ishihara san no tokoro "place where Mr. Ishihara is" "Mr. Ishihara's place."
Tomodachi no tokoro "place where a friend is" "a friend's place.", etc.
4 „ tatemono no mae ni "in front of the building"
ushiro ni "behind the building"
naka ni "inside the building"
soba ni "near the building"
tonari ni "next to the building"
tsukue no ue ni "on the desk"
shita ni "under the desk"

The relationship among koko, soko, asoko and doko in 2„ is the same as that of kore, sore, are and dore.
3„ shows that Ruin san is a noun of person, while Ruin san no tokoro is a noun of place. You should say "Ruin san no tokoro e ikimashita." instead of "Ruin san e ikimashita.," when you want to say "I went to Mr. Lwin's."

Recall that when a noun modifies another noun, the modifying noun comes first and the modified noun follows the modifying noun { the particle no. You cannot say mae no tatemono but tatemono no mae in order to express "the front of the building."

Examples
1. Ruin san no tokoro ni teepurekoodaa ga arimasu.
"The tape recorder is at the place where Mr. Lwin is."(Lit.)
2. Shoogakukin wa Mugishima san no tokoro ni arimasu.
"The scholarship is in Mr. Mugishima's place(office)."(Lit.)
3. Asoko ni shiroi tatemono ga arimasu.
"There is a white building over there."
4. Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
5. Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.
"There is a book on the desk."
6. Koogakubu no soba ni seekyoo ga arimasu.
"There is a Co-op near the Faculty of Engineering."
7. A : Kaban wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the bag?"
B : Tsukue no shita ni arimasu.
"It's under the desk."

E. This pattern is also used to express an abstract idea.

Examples
1. Watashi ni iken ga arimasu.
"I have an opinion."
2. Ano gakusee no Nihongo ni mondai ga arimasu.
"There is a problem with that student's Japanese."