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Probably a silly question, but can the word "there" refer to more than one place?

Consider the following sentence:

"I visited City A and City B again even though I went there last year."

Can "there" refer to both cities? Or should I use the following instead?

"I visited City A and City B again even though I went to them last year."

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    There provides a reference to the last-named place. If you wish to refer to multiple places, it's best to use your them construction instead.
    – Robusto
    Commented Nov 13, 2018 at 21:33
  • Thanks for the response, that makes a lot of sense. If you post it as an answer, I can mark it as accepted.
    – Danny
    Commented Nov 13, 2018 at 21:36
  • There can easily and naturally refer to both cities, as long as they are presented as a conjoined locative noun phrase, as they are here. Note that again has the same sense of visiting both cities; it's natural to expect there to do likewise.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Nov 13, 2018 at 21:46
  • See also English Language Learners Good Luck.
    – Kris
    Commented Nov 14, 2018 at 8:26
  • The plural in this context and structure would be "to those places." HTH.
    – Kris
    Commented Nov 14, 2018 at 8:27

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There provides a reference to the last-named place.

I visited City A and City B again even though I went there last year.

Here the reader understand that there refers to City B. If you wish to refer to multiple places, it's best (i.e., less ambiguous) to use your "them" construction instead.

I visited City A and City B again even though I visited them last year.

Here the pronoun them covers the entire list.

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  • You could also say ‘visited eavh of them, last year’.
    – Jelila
    Commented Nov 13, 2018 at 22:36

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