Take the 2-minute tour ×  Let's say I am having a telephone
conference with rest of the team, and somebody asks me "Dude,
are you there?" How should I reply?  Yes, dude, I am there.
Yes, I am here?  It is difficult for me to see the difference.
share|improve this question Is your question about the
difference between here and there when on the phone? –  Robusto
Dec 6 '12 at 20:21 add comment  2 Answers  up vote 3 down vote
accepted  English was developed prior to the advent of
instantaneous, long-distance, voice communication and so the use
of spatial deictics is not so cut and dry. In normal cases, here
means "close to the speaker," and there means "close to listener
and/or far from both parties," but there are cases in phone
conversations where there is more appropriate for a speaker to
use in referring to his/her own location. For example, when
speaking to someone who has a mistaken idea of your location:
A: You're supposed to be waiting in front of the restaurant. B:
I'm already there, on the north si