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A student showed me the following sentence in her English textbook. She asked me to clarify why where is used in the sentence. Since I cannot read Japanese, can someone please explain why? I have been taught that where is only used for places or situations. In this case, it seems to be describing the noun (a type of corn, whatever it is) in more detail.

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BJ Dela Cruz
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    "Where" has been bleached of its locative meaning here, and is the equivalent of "in which". "Where the kernel is hard on the outside ..." is a supplementary relative clause in which "where" has "corn" as its antecedent. The meaning is "a certain type of corn in which the kernel is hard on the outside ..." – BillJ Sep 03 '16 at 16:01

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I think you hit it with the word "situation". The condition of the corn kernel is a "situation"

See use 3 & 4 here: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/situation

  1. condition; case; plight: He is in a desperate situation.
  2. the state of affairs; combination of circumstances: The present international situation is dangerous.

The desparate & dangerous examples should not lead one to believe that the situation must always be negative.

TecBrat
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