I have a few questions about use of articles with places:
Could anyone please point me in the direction of a concrete list of
rules for using "the" with placenames? Is there a rule about use
of "the" with manmade/unique places (for example, I visited the Golden
Gate Bridge)? If there is such a rule for unique places,
are most country names (Japan, France, Egypt...) exceptions?
We all know that there is a distinct difference between "I went to
school today"
(because I am a student) and "I went to the school today" (for a
reason other than learning). Why do we always use "the" with places
like "bank" and "grocery store" when we don't necessarily always mean
the one particular building where we opened our account/typically shop
every time we talk about them? For example, "I went to the
grocery store (Price Chopper) on Monday" and today "I am going to the
grocery store (Shaw's)" again. Is it because when we say "I am going to
the grocery store" we have one in mind, though we may not have
announced it? Does it have something to do with names of
buildings taking "the"?
Does British English make a distinction between "go to/be in hospital"
and "go to/be in the hospital"? My students asked me about use of
"go to hospital" and I have never heard this. In American
English, we always say "go to the hospital". For example, if you
call 911, someone will usually take you "to the hospital" even though
you may not necessarily know which one (so why use a definite
article?). Patients are described as being "in the hospital"
whether we know which one they are in or not. Is there a
reason for this?
Finally, how do you explain lack of article and preposition usage in "go home"?