Genuine question that I'm sure will get taken wrongly or seem absolutely stupid:
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Genuine question that I'm sure will get taken wrongly or seem absolutely stupid:
Why do people from certain countries not use Article words like "the" and "a" when referring to hospitals?
"He's at hospital" vs "he's at the hospital" or "he's at a hospital"
And why is it different from other general location names like "the house", "a house", etc?
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Genuine question that I'm sure will get taken wrongly or seem absolutely stupid:
Why do people from certain countries not use Article words like "the" and "a" when referring to hospitals?
"He's at hospital" vs "he's at the hospital" or "he's at a hospital"
And why is it different from other general location names like "the house", "a house", etc?
I took two answers and combined them so you get examples. This is probably the most concise answer I can think of.
You are in the realm of what linguists call arthrousness, which is a fancy way of describing words that take an article and those that don't (ie anarthrous).
For words like school, church and hospital, we typically use an article when we are talking about the actual building. If we are talking about not only the building but also a kind of all-encompassing sense of the things that happen at that place, we typically do not use the article.
Words like school, hospital and church work this way.
Why do British people leave out the word 'the' hospital instead of saying 'in the hospital' they just say 'Hospital?'
Answer (1 of 13): > Why do British people leave out the word 'the' hospital instead of saying 'in the hospital' they just say 'Hospital?' Because language. Different dialects do different things. We do it too in North America, but with different words: * I’m going to church. * She’s at school...
Quora (www.quora.com)
So you would never say “My daughter is a nurse, she works at hospital” - you would always say “… at the hospital”, because you’re thinking of the physical state of being at a suite of buildings which make up a hospital, not the cultural/medical state of being hospitalised.
For a similar reason, you would usually say “I went to the hospital”, not just “… to hospital”, if you were referring to an outpatient appointment. “Going to hospital” refers to being an inpatient, or to going there for an emergency visit.
When you are a student, do you say “I go to school” or “I go to the school”? ("the" school implies there is only one school)
Maybe it's the American English usage that makes no sense, but that's what we've been taught.
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Genuine question that I'm sure will get taken wrongly or seem absolutely stupid:
Why do people from certain countries not use Article words like "the" and "a" when referring to hospitals?
"He's at hospital" vs "he's at the hospital" or "he's at a hospital"
And why is it different from other general location names like "the house", "a house", etc?
@BeAware Doesn't it mean something subtly different?
He's at the hospital = there is one large hospital in our town and that's where he is.
He's at a hospital = he's in a hospital I'm not familiar with.
He's at hospital = This is less about a location and more about his state of being. "He had a fall." "Oh no, is he alright?" "No, he's still at hospital."
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Genuine question that I'm sure will get taken wrongly or seem absolutely stupid:
Why do people from certain countries not use Article words like "the" and "a" when referring to hospitals?
"He's at hospital" vs "he's at the hospital" or "he's at a hospital"
And why is it different from other general location names like "the house", "a house", etc?
@BeAware Same with in line and on line. I think it's just a regional thing. I almost never hear "at hospital" in the US.
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Genuine question that I'm sure will get taken wrongly or seem absolutely stupid:
Why do people from certain countries not use Article words like "the" and "a" when referring to hospitals?
"He's at hospital" vs "he's at the hospital" or "he's at a hospital"
And why is it different from other general location names like "the house", "a house", etc?
-
I took two answers and combined them so you get examples. This is probably the most concise answer I can think of.
You are in the realm of what linguists call arthrousness, which is a fancy way of describing words that take an article and those that don't (ie anarthrous).
For words like school, church and hospital, we typically use an article when we are talking about the actual building. If we are talking about not only the building but also a kind of all-encompassing sense of the things that happen at that place, we typically do not use the article.
Words like school, hospital and church work this way.
Why do British people leave out the word 'the' hospital instead of saying 'in the hospital' they just say 'Hospital?'
Answer (1 of 13): > Why do British people leave out the word 'the' hospital instead of saying 'in the hospital' they just say 'Hospital?' Because language. Different dialects do different things. We do it too in North America, but with different words: * I’m going to church. * She’s at school...
Quora (www.quora.com)
So you would never say “My daughter is a nurse, she works at hospital” - you would always say “… at the hospital”, because you’re thinking of the physical state of being at a suite of buildings which make up a hospital, not the cultural/medical state of being hospitalised.
For a similar reason, you would usually say “I went to the hospital”, not just “… to hospital”, if you were referring to an outpatient appointment. “Going to hospital” refers to being an inpatient, or to going there for an emergency visit.
When you are a student, do you say “I go to school” or “I go to the school”? ("the" school implies there is only one school)
Maybe it's the American English usage that makes no sense, but that's what we've been taught.
@alex Thank you. I didn't understand the difference between the state of being and the physical location. The state of being version isn't really used in the US so that's why it always confused me.
Appreciate the explanation, friend!
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@BeAware Doesn't it mean something subtly different?
He's at the hospital = there is one large hospital in our town and that's where he is.
He's at a hospital = he's in a hospital I'm not familiar with.
He's at hospital = This is less about a location and more about his state of being. "He had a fall." "Oh no, is he alright?" "No, he's still at hospital."
@davidnjoku Thank you. I didn't understand the difference between the state of being and the physical location. The state of being version isn't really used in the US so that's why it always confused me.
Appreciate the explanation, friend!
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@BeAware Same with in line and on line. I think it's just a regional thing. I almost never hear "at hospital" in the US.
@frog Yes I get that now. I was also explained that in the cases without an article, it's a state of being. Like specifically inpatient stay because of serious health issues not just there to visit or other reasons, if that makes sense. We don't use it differently in the US so that's where the confusion lay.
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@BeAware Besides school, other U.S. examples are Church and bed. He goes to Church. He's goes to bed. Sometimes, though, using "the" changes the entire meaning. Grandpa lives at home. vs. Grandpa lives at the home
@jerry That does make sense!
Also, I was told that in other countries, specifically with hospital, the article use or absence is a difference of state of being vs just being at the physical location.
Like "going to the hospital" is referring to the physical building but not necessarily for poor health while "going to hospital" is specifically referring to being in poor health and like an ER visit or inpatient stay.
Thanks for your insight, friend!
I'm glad I could learn a few things today.
