in a hospital ? in hospital ? in the... ?

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#209708 Sun, 26 Mar 06 10:59 AM

Thanks a lot Paco =)

Can I use all three options in the following examples ? What are the differences between them and which ones are wrong ?

she is in hospital
she is in a hospital
she is in the hospital

she is at university
she is at a university
she is at the university

see u,

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Joined on Mon, Aug 29 2005

Poland

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Universities

paco2004

#209711 Sun, 26 Mar 06 11:19 AM

"She is in the hospital" (AmE) or "She is in hospital" (BrE) commonly means "She is hospitalized as a patient". "She is in a hospital" is not incorrect but it is not idiomatic. "She is in university/college" means "She is a university/college student". "She is in a/the university/college" is not idiomatic. "She studies at university/college" is quite idiomatic, but "She is at university/college" is not an idiomatic expression.

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Expressions, Universities

Forum_mail

#209816 Sun, 26 Mar 06 07:40 PM

thanks, but tell me please... what do you mean by saying "idiomatic" :-) ?you mean "colloquial" ?

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paco2004

#209827 Sun, 26 Mar 06 08:35 PM

Forum_mail wrote:
thanks, but tell me please... what do you mean by saying "idiomatic" :-) ?you mean "colloquial" ?

I meant by "idiomatic" that the phrase is frequently and preferablly spoken by the native speakers despite the fact that we ESL students could not give logical reasons to its frequent use and their preference.

paco

paco2004

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#209857 Sun, 26 Mar 06 11:22 PM

allrighty... so, in fact... saying "she is at a/the university" is not incorrect but simply non-idiomatic, isn't it ? we can say "she is in a/the prison" instead of "she is in prison" and it won't be wrong but simply non native-like ?

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Universities

paco2004

#209875 Mon, 27 Mar 06 12:30 AM

It is tough to answer your question. The answer will depend on how we define "correct" or "right". "She is at a university" or "she is at the university" is correct as far as the sentential structure is concerned, but native speakers will take a while to understand what you mean by it.

paco

paco2004

Universities

Teo

#211348 Fri, 31 Mar 06 01:40 PM

British English, but not American English, usually omits the definite article with university and hospital.

Mrs Anderson has to go to hospital / the hospital for an operation.

[BUT ALWAYS: Where is the hospital?]

We were at university / the university together.

Page 251, A Communicative Grammar of English, by Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik, Pearson Education Limited, 2002

Teo

Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004

Taiwan

Contributing Member (1,610)

Thank you very much for your reply.

Articles, American English, Grammar, British English, Universities, Definite articles

Goodman

#211426 Fri, 31 Mar 06 06:40 PM

Hi,

Unfortunately, there really is no set rule for using the articles. As you can see in the examples, “the” is used in one but not the other.

I am in the shower –“ the” is used, not "a"

He is in pain – no article is used

He felt like he was in heaven when Mary accepted his marriage proposal– not used

I am in the middle of mowing my lawn-‘”the” is used

She is in the mood for a movie- “the” is used.

She is in no mood for a movie – not used.

From your questions:

She is in hospital
she is in a hospital – this may be correct with the right context, not here.
she is in the hospital – This is correct. It means she has a medical problem which requires of her to remain in the hospital.

she is at university
she is at a university - Not sure what to makie of it. It's not wrong gramamtically, but it sounded strange.
she is at the university –The context paints an unclear picture. Does it mean she is studying at the university? Or Physically being there? If we add a little additional information to this context, then it may make sense.

She is getting her Ph.D. at the University of Miami .

She is at the office. This clear means she is physically there.

Does it help?

Goodman

Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005

Calif. USA

Senior Member (3,164)

The name says it all!

Articles, Universities, Marriage

Forbes

#211468 Fri, 31 Mar 06 10:17 PM

The following relates to Standard British English.

It seems the rule is that when talking about institutions the article is omitted if you are talking about someone being in the institution for the purpose for which it was designed.

Thus:

She is in hospital means She is a patient in a hospital

She is at school means She is a student in a school

She is in a hospital and She is in the hospital refer to anyone who happens to be in the building, whether a patient or not, and the difference between them is the usual one between definite and indefinite articles.

She is in a hospital, but I am not sure which one.

She is in the hospital round the corner.