When and why do we drop the definite article when talking about some institutions?
In British English, leaving out ‘the’ when talking about some institutions can cause confusion for both English learners and native speakers. These rules are used in both the UK and Australia, but there can be slightly different rules in North America. The institutions I talk about are school, college, university, hospital, church, and prison.
If I am referring to a specific school, university, church, hospital or prison then the normal rules for articles apply.
Examples:
– I always drive past the Oakdale school on my way to work.
– The injured people were taken to the St John of God hospital.
However, when we talk about people attending or being in places like school, university, church, hospital or prison, there are slightly different rules. We drop the article when talking about going to one of these places for its normally accepted purpose – this is also called the zero article. This tells us about a person’s state of being – it’s not about visiting the building.
School
If I am going to take my children to the school that they normally attend, for the purpose of going to class and learning, I would say, “I’m going to take the kids to school now”. Not the school.
Example:
– My sister’s kids go to school in London.
London is where they normally attend school.
What if there is something happening in the building of the school, but it isn’t normal school lessons? Then we use the, because we are describing a visit to the building for a purpose other than its intended use.
Examples:
– The kids have a karate class at the school this afternoon.
– Tomorrow, I have a meeting at the school with Johnny’s teacher.
Can you see the difference yet?
University and College
The same principle applies to university and college. If I am enrolled in a university course and attend there regularly for classes, then I would say “I’m going to university (uni*) today”. * Please note – in Australia and the UK, people often shorten university to “uni”.
In the UK people can go to a college to get their A levels, and for courses which are not at degree level. In Australia, they don’t have A levels, but they do have further education colleges for technical courses and other courses which are not at degree level. And the same rules apply here.
Example:
– I can’t help you move into your house. I’ve got college all week.
What if I don’t normally attend this college, but there is a cafe in the building that is open to the public?
Example:
– My friend is meeting me at the college for lunch.
I am not attending as a student. I am simply visiting the building.
Church
Church is treated similarly.
If I am a churchgoer then I ‘go to church’ – I regularly attend a church for the purpose of worship. This also shows the destination of a church attender for worship.
Example:
– We can’t play football this morning because we’re going to church.
People can visit a church building for a reason other than to worship. In this case we use the definite article – the.
Examples:
– A builder went to the church to mend the roof.
– Edith takes a knitting class at the church every Wednesday.
In the same way a regular church attender would go to the church during the week for a purpose other than worship.
Example:
– I am going to the church to clean the toilets.
Even though they usually attend church for worship, they are visiting the building for a reason other than the building’s intended purpose.
Hospital
Now with the word hospital, we treat it a little differently. We tend to use the preposition in when we talk about being admitted as a patient and staying at least one night.
Example:
– My brother will be in hospital for another 3 weeks.
The structure is: (to) be + in hospital.
To talk about getting to hospital because of illness we use into hospital or to hospital, with no article. The structure is: be + verb + into hospital (or) be + verb + to hospital.
Example:
– My mum is going into hospital for surgery tomorrow.
She will be admitted, have her surgery, and stay in hospital at least overnight. She will not be going home tomorrow.
Examples:
– After my car accident I was rushed into hospital by ambulance.
– After my car accident I was taken to hospital.
To hospital can also be used for an outpatient appointment – when someone sees a medical professional at the hospital and then goes home the same day. However, as this is a visit and the person is not being admitted, it is also fine to use the.
Examples:
– I went to hospital for a blood test yesterday.
– She is going to the hospital to have an x ray this afternoon.
If you talk about visiting a hospital for any other reason, then use the definite article.
Example:
– This morning, I went to the hospital to visit my aunt who is ill.
My aunt is in hospital, I am visiting the hospital.
Example:
– George has gone to the hospital to fix the heating system.
Prison
Prison is similar to hospital.
A prison inmate is in prison, a person goes into or is taken to prison to become an inmate, and we can say that anyone who is not an inmate visits the prison.
American English is different in that they use the definite article more frequently, even in some cases to describe a state of being. They would say that a patient is in the hospital not in hospital. I am not sure what they use for the other institutions. Ask an American!
In British English we more commonly use the preposition at to describe a person’s location, rather than in.
To describe a person’s location when doing what they are normally expected to do, we use at school, at university, at college, at church, but as we have already discovered in hospital and in prison. To describe a person’s location when visiting these buildings including prison and hospital we would use at. At the school, at the university, at the college, at the church, at the prison and at the hospital.
