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ESL forum >
Ask for help > using the
using the
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Ruwayda37
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using the
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Hello dear fellow teachers, I must say that I �m really grateful for your constant support. This time I �m asking about using the definite article "the". I read that it can be used with some words like "bed, school, hospital, ...etc." when the meaning is not related to the main purpose of the place. For example: She is in hospital because she has broken her leg. She went to the hospital to visit her sick friend. What about doctors? Do they go to hospital or the hospital? And teachers? Are they at school or in the school? Thanks a lot |
20 Dec 2015
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Tapioca
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Hi Riham, You �ll find some guidance here: In British English (or at least my English), I think these are the differences in meaning: The doctor went to hospital (because she had an accident) The doctor went to the hospital (to work) The teachers are at school (they are working at the moment) The teachers are at/in the school (that �s their current location)
In that second link above, there is a very good explanation which kind of summarises the difference, by a user called caxtontype:
"When we omit the article before the noun, we are thinking of a state or
condition,
not of a specific place: in jail, in love, in hospital, at
university, under fire."
Note that there are some differences between British/Australian English and American English, so the usage and my explanations above probably don �t apply in the USA. Tap
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20 Dec 2015
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Ruwayda37
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Hi Tapioca, Many thanks for your clarification but I still wonder if "The doctor goes to the hospital (to work)", then why do we say" The teachers are at school" to mean that they are at work too? Both of them are at work now so why do we use "the" with hospital but not with school? Could you please clarify that for me?
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20 Dec 2015
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Tapioca
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It �s a very good question, and I think the answer is that it has to do with the �primary purpose � of the place. So, in my mind the �primary purpose � for a hospital is caring for the sick. �She �s in hospital � to me, means that she is sick and being cared for. The �primary purpose � of a school is teaching and learning, so �They are at school � means they are learning or teaching (without the definite article, it �s not really about their location, but what they are doing). If we add �the � in front of those words, then the person is there for a slightly different reason and it �s more about location. I agree it is a little confusing and I hope that my explanation is correct. I think if we changed �students � for teachers in that example, it would be more clear. The doctor is in hospital (because she had an accident or is ill) The doctor is in the hospital (probably working - but it is possible that some people will use this to mean she is sick) The students are at school (they are studying at the moment) The students are at/in the school (that�s their current location but maybe there is a party there, or they are waiting for a bus) I think that these rules are not black and white (I call them �soft rules � with my students). There is some ambiguity and the rules are more like guidelines that describe how most people use the structures rather than hard right/wrong choices. It �s exactly these kind of questions which are great, because they make me think more (and learn more) about my own language! :-) Tap |
20 Dec 2015
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Ruwayda37
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Thanks a lot for your great help! |
20 Dec 2015
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Matthew@ELSP
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That was a fascinating little Q&A there. Thanks for asking / answering that here.
I had not given that too much thought - as with many patterns etc that I begin to think about more carefully only after being asked.
There �s another for the little bank of potential questions / explanations that I keep in my head. Thank you both. |
21 Dec 2015
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