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From: steven@boring.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Use of THE - US vs Eng
Message-ID: <6387@boring.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 18-Apr-85 01:44:08 EST
Article-I.D.: boring.6387
Posted: Thu Apr 18 01:44:08 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Apr-85 03:02:44 EST
References: <7200005@hp-pcd.UUCP> <1905@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Reply-To: steven@boring.UUCP (Steven Pemberton)
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 24
Apparently-To: rnews@mcvax.LOCAL


Re "He went to hospital" vs. "He went to the hospital":

Someone wrote:
> The use of 'the' in such expressions in English is not semantically
> motivated, i.e. it is arbitrary.

and someone else:
> Perhaps, these are simply idiomatic constructions and are not open to
> logical analysis.

Actually, it's not completely arbitrary, and it is open to some analysis. It
concerns the following nouns: chapel, church, market, college, school,
hospital, court, prison, work, sea, bed. These nouns are used in English
when they are visited or used for their primary purpose. Thus "she went to
church to pray", but "she went to the church to look at the carvings".

Apparently then, American English leaves 'hospital' out of the list (maybe
others too: comments any of you Americans?)

In contrast to the above list, a few very common words do take 'the':
cathedral, office (as a place of work), cinema, theatre:
"she is at the office" vs. "she is at work".

Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; steven@mcvax.uucp