1

We all know that Americans say:

Sara is going to the hospital

While in the UK, they would say (and Americans would never say):

Sara is going to hospital

I'm wondering what the history of this difference is given that in AE, the usage of the "the" modifier seems extraordinarily arbitrary: Americans would say:

Sara is going to school

to mean that Sara is going to be enrolled in school. While they would say:

Sara is going to the school

to mean that Sara is going a particular school building (not enrolled).

To me this intuitively suggests some sort of lack of "personal" connection with the concept of a hospital which is not there when it comes to concepts like "school" or "church".

Now for the leap: does this perhaps have anything to do that in the US, healthcare has been a private entity (until recent occurrences), and not generally regarded as a personal right (but rather, a privilege)? I know this is a stretch, but this could be an explanation for the "impersonal" way in which AE uses the word — unless my history is all wrong here? No politics here, just curious about the root of this difference.

RegDwigнt
  • 97,231
jh all
  • 11
  • 1
    British English is just illogical in different ways. We never say "I'm going to dentist // clinic // infirmary // doctor/'s // seminary...." There's a discussion on some of these idiosyncrasies at Wordwizard. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 08 '14 at 08:24
  • 4
    This topic is extensively discussed in a previous post. http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/19604/is-there-a-reason-the-british-omit-the-article-when-they-go-to-hospital – WS2 Mar 08 '14 at 08:53
  • I don't see how this inclusion / exclusion of the by us AmE users is illogical. We include the the for particular designation building on its classic demonstrative origin. We exclude it for generic activities. Looking at your examples above, what is the generic activity of "going to hospital"? Does one commute to random hospitals for some reason. – virmaior Mar 08 '14 at 10:01
  • 1
    @virmaior Surely the "generic activity" of going to hospital is exactly the same sort of thing as going to school. One goes to a place -- even a particular place -- for a particular activity. The "generic activity" is "healthcare", just as for school it's "education". – Andrew Leach Mar 08 '14 at 14:06
  • @AndrewLeach I don't see how. Going to school at least in AmE refers to being in the state of being enrolled in school along the lines appropriate for one's age and (presumably) regularly attending that place. Substituting the word hospital for school here doesn't make sense. Or at least to not me. Maybe if you need regular kidney dialysis, you can say going to hospital in that sort of way but otherwise I don't see the parallel. – virmaior Mar 08 '14 at 14:35
  • @virmaior You mean that each morning, American children don't get on a bus and go to school? They get on a bus and go to the school? – Andrew Leach Mar 08 '14 at 14:40
  • Andrew Leach, that's a good point. If Americans say the hospital, then why don't they also say the school or the university, when speaking in general? – Tristan r Mar 08 '14 at 15:22
  • Very interesting. We (AmE speakers) say "going to dialysis" and "going to (physical) therapy". "Going to school" may be used for what children are doing at ~7:30 on weekday mornings, but if they are particular children going to a particular school at a particular time, the using "going to the school" sounds fine. "Going to University" does not sound like AmE to me, but "going to college" does. – Mike Mar 08 '14 at 15:49
  • Mike, just like what you wrote about going to a particular school, the same is true of the word hospital, in the UK. Using the word the before it, is for when talking about one hospital in particular. It is contradictory and unnecessary when talking about going to a hospital in general, without specifying which one. – Tristan r Mar 08 '14 at 18:30
  • @virmaior BrE "Sara is going to the hospital" has the emphasis on 'is going', it's an action taking place either now or very soon. "Sara is going to hospital" means Sara needs treatment, she has an appointment, she is going into hospital at some point. Or you might say "Sara needs her wisdom teeth out" - "At the dentist?" - "No, she's going to hospital for it." It might sound strange, but that's what it means. – Mynamite Mar 09 '14 at 00:41

0 Answers0