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I am wondering if "to which" can be replaced by the word "where".

Here is my question. Please help me. He went to the shop in which his dad works. = He went to the shop where his dad works.

The sentence is correct, but how about the following sentence?

His dad works in the shop to which he went. = His dad works in the shop where he went. Is it correct? Or should I say, "His dad works in the shop where he went to."?

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    The shop where he went is OK, or you can retain the unnecessary preposition and leave off the relative pronoun: the shop he went to. But the shop where he went to is too much.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 19:24
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    Sometimes it can. But to which cannot always be replaced by where. For example, the churches to which Paul wrote is not the same as the churches where Paul wrote.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 19:27
  • @PeterShor Hm, how about the churches where Paul sent his letters? Still ambiguous I think.
    – Anton Sherwood
    Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 20:18

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Where is also a relative pronoun:

...available at the travel agency where you book your holiday. Wanchai boasts the Academy of Performing Arts, where everything from Chinese Opera to Shakespeare is performed.

(Collins)

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    Actually, "where" is a relative adverb.
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 5:32
  • @BillJ both Collins and Cambridge dictionaries define the above usage as a relative pronoun, google.com/amp/s/dictionary.cambridge.org/it/amp/… - as well as other dictionaries.
    – user 66974
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 5:41
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    They are wrong! It has a preposition meaning "in/at/to some place", so there is no logical reason to call it a pronoun. The Oxford gets it right. See here: link.
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 5:53
  • @BillJ - ell.stackexchange.com/questions/133792/…
    – user 66974
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 7:40
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    Swan is wrong, but then by his own admission he is not a qualified grammarian. See the link to the Oxford dictionary that I gave you.
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 8:31

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