The II

The II (school/the school)

A.      Compare school and the school:

Alison is ten years old. Every day goes to school. She’s at school now. School begins at 9 and finishes at 3. We say a child goes to school or is at school (as a pupil). We are not necessarily thinking of school as a general idea.

Today Alison’s mother wants to speak to her daughter’s teacher. So she has gone to the school to see her. She is to the school now. Alison’s mother is not a pupil. She is not ‘at school’, she doesn’t ‘go to school’. But if she wants to see Alison’s teacher, she goes to the school (Alison’s school, a particular school).

B.      We use prison, hospital, university, and church in a similar way. We do not use the when we are thinking of the general idea of these places and what they are used for. Compare:

·         Ken’s brother is in a prison roe robbery. (he is a prisoner. We are not thinking of a particular prison) ·         Jack had an accident last week. He was taken to hospital. He’s still in hospital now. (as a patient) ·         When I leave school, I want to go to university. ·         Mrs. Kelly goes to church every Sunday. (to a religious service)

·         Ken went to the prison to visit his brother. (he went as a visitor, not as a prisoner) ·         Jill has gone to the hospital to visit jack. She’s at the hospital now. (as a visitor) ·         Excuse me, where is the university, please? (the university buildings) ·         The workmen went to the church to repair the roof. (not for a religious service)

C.      Bed, Work, Home

We say, ‘go to bed/be in bed’ etc. (not ‘the bed’):

·      It’s time to go to bed now.

·      This morning I had breakfast in bed.

But: I sat down on the bed. (a particular piece of furniture)

‘go to work/ be at work/start work/finish work’ etc. (not ‘the work’):

·      Ann didn’t go to work yesterday.

·      What time do you usually finish work?

‘go home/come home/arrive home/be at home’ etc.:

·      It’s late. Let’s go home.

·      Will you be at home tomorrow afternoon?

D.      We say ‘go to sea/be at sea’ (without ‘the’) when the meaning is ‘go/be on a voyage’:

·      Keith is a seaman. He spends most of his life at sea.

But:

·      I’d like to live near the sea.

·      It can be dangerous to swim in the sea.