Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers




Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Notices

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 13-Dec-2007, 05:47
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Country: Vietnam
Posts: 35
Current Location: Vietnam
First Language: Vietnamese
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 5
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
chibi is on a distinguished road
Default doctors go to hospital or the hospital?

patients go to hospital ( not the hospital) . and My parents go to the hospital to visit their friend ( their friend is a patient). So what about doctor?

the same with teacher and school? police and prison-house?
Could you please tell me what is correct?
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 13-Dec-2007, 07:55
amigos4's Avatar
VIP Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Country: USA
Posts: 13,464
Current Location: Tucson, Arizona
First Language: North American English
Member Type: Academic
Thanks: 949
Thanked 1,012 Times in 884 Posts
amigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud ofamigos4 has much to be proud of
Default Re: doctors go to hospital or the hospital?

Quote:
Originally Posted by chibi View Post
patients go to hospital ( not the hospital) . and My parents go to the hospital to visit their friend ( their friend is a patient). So what about doctor?

the same with teacher and school? police and prison-house?
Could you please tell me what is correct?
Patients go to the hospital.
My parents go to the hospital to visit their friend.
The doctor works in the hospital.
The teacher works in the school.
The police visit the prison to interview inmates.

Do these examples help you?

Cheers,
Amigos4
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 13-Dec-2007, 08:14
dawoodusmani's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Country: Pakistan
Posts: 452
Current Location: Karachi, Pakistan
First Language: Urdu
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 76
Thanked 69 Times in 65 Posts
dawoodusmani will become famous soon enough
Question Re: doctors go to hospital or the hospital?

Quote:
Originally Posted by amigos4 View Post
Patients go to the hospital.
My parents go to the hospital to visit their friend.
The doctor works in the hospital.
The teacher works in the school.
The police visit the prison to interview inmates.

Do these examples help you?

Cheers,
Amigos4
It's good to follow American English in this regard so as to avoid confusion and hesitation. Whereas we, in British English, do not use "the" with the words you mentioned above in general sense. We only use " the" when we refer to a specific place.
A comparison can be made here.
1- ( Talking about a baby) Does she go to school?(in general sense) ~ Yes, she is in...
2- My mum is at the school now to.... ( A specific place/ building)

1- His brother has been in prison for 14 years. (He's under going a punishment. It doesn't matter which prison.)
2- The Prime Minister visited the Prison last week and ... ( a specific place/ building)
Hope this helps.
Regards!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
articles

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
at/in the hospital magdalena Ask a Teacher 10 06-Feb-2008 13:40
in a hospital ? in hospital ? in the... ? help me... :-) forum_mail Ask a Teacher 6 27-Mar-2006 19:23
in a hospital/at hospital trustM Ask a Teacher 2 16-Jun-2005 14:47
Hospital NewHope Ask a Teacher 5 27-Oct-2004 22:58
Editing this "long" article NewHope Editing & Writing Topics 9 17-Aug-2004 13:24


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 08:05.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com