diff --git a/parser/position.go b/parser/position.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca09d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parser/position.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package parser
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// Position describes an arbitrary source position
+// including the file, line, and column location.
+// A Position is valid if the line number is > 0.
+type Position struct {
+	Filename string // filename, if any
+	Offset   int    // offset, starting at 0
+	Line     int    // line number, starting at 1
+	Column   int    // column number, starting at 1 (character count)
+}
+
+// IsValid returns true if the position is valid.
+func (p *Position) IsValid() bool { return p.Line > 0 }
+
+// String returns a string in one of several forms:
+//
+//	file:line:column    valid position with file name
+//	line:column         valid position without file name
+//	file                invalid position with file name
+//	-                   invalid position without file name
+func (p Position) String() string {
+	s := p.Filename
+	if p.IsValid() {
+		if s != "" {
+			s += ":"
+		}
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d", p.Line, p.Column)
+	}
+	if s == "" {
+		s = "-"
+	}
+	return s
+}