To

[Casiopea]

Are these correct? What do they mean?

1. We can't send him to military school.
2. We can't send him to the military school.

They are correct. "the" refers to a specific military school--one that has already been mentioned and hence is already known to the speakers.

[jack]

Thanks guys. :)

I think I'm getting the 'disputed' thing now.

[Casiopea]

Thanks guys. :)

I think I'm getting the 'disputed' thing now.

:D

[jack]

Are these correct? What do they mean?

1. We can't send him to military school.
2. We can't send him to the military school.

They are correct. "the" refers to a specific military school--one that has already been mentioned and hence is already known to the speakers.

What do these mean?
1. We can't send him to military school. (How come this one doesn't need the determiner?)
2. We can't send him to a military school.

[Casiopea]

1. We can't send him to military school.

How come this one doesn't need the determiner?

'military', an adjective, tells us what kind of school. That is, the speaker is emphasizing a specific kind of school, military school: "We can't send him to military school, to computer school, to flower arranging school." Compare that sentence with these sentences,

"We can't send him to a (any) military school.
"We can't send him to the (the one we talked about) military school."