He hid under the bed, where he accidentally found his lost key.

1) He hid under the bed, from where he could hear what they were talking.
2) He hid under the bed, where he could hear what they were talking.
3) He hid under the bed, where he accidentally found his lost key.
4) He hid under the bed, from where he accidentally found his lost key.

Here is my analysis, and I would like to hear your idea.
Sentence 1 is correct.
Sentence 2 is wrong. It would mean others were talking under the exactly same bed that he hid under.
Sentence 3 is correct.
Sentence 4, I don’t know whether it’s correct.

1a) He hid under the bed, from where he could hear what they were saying.
1b) He hid under the bed. From there he could hear what they were saying.
2) He hid under the bed, where he could hear what they were saying.

3) He hid under the bed, where he accidentally found his lost key.
4) He hid under the bed, from where he accidentally found his lost key.

In sentence 2, the "where" is the place where he listened, not the place where they talked. So "where" is correct.

In English the verbs "say, talk, speak, tell" are confusing. They all express similar ideas. But they use different grammer.

#1 seems okay to me. The place indicated by "where" is "under the bed". (He heard what they were talking saying)

In 3) "accidentally" is not quite the right word. "...where by chance he found his lost key" is better.

Hulalessar said:

In 3) "accidentally" is not quite the right word. "...where by chance he found his lost key" is better.

Click to expand...

'Accidentally' refers to an unfortunate event – not a fortuitous one.

Thank you all.