実践英会話教室18

Go to hospital / Go to the hospital

冠詞theの用法は難しい。ある単語はtheのあるなしによって意味が異なります。下の単語はその場所の考え方や目的が重要な時、the をつけないで使用される。

hospital 病院
school (college, university) 学校
prison (jail) 牢屋
church 教会

例

あなたが去年、病院で手術を受ける必要があった場合:

I went to hospital.

と言います。病院の目的は病気の人たちの看護をすることなので、あなたはその目的のためにそこへ行ったのですから、the hospitalではなく、hospital, を使います。

もしあなたが病院の友達を訪ねたのならば:

I went to the hospital.

と言います。

あなたが病気のためにそこへ行ったのではなく、単にその場所に行ったのですから、一般的に使うようにthe をつけます。

さらなる例

My son went to school this morning. (he went there to study)
私の息子は今朝、学校へ行った。（勉強をしにそこへ行った。）
I went to the school to meet his teacher. (I just met his teacher there)
私は彼の先生に会いに学校へ行った。（私は単にそこで先生に会っただけである。）

My brother went to prison. (he robbed a bank)
私の兄は、刑務所に入った。（彼は銀行強盗をした。）
I went to the prison to see him. (I visited him)
私は彼に会いにその刑務所へ行った。（私は彼を訪問した。）

Do you go to church? (to pray)
あなたは教会へ行きますか？（お祈りをしに）
I went to the church to take some photos. (the purpose was photography, not religion)
私は写真をとりにその教会へ行った。（目的は写真で、宗教的なことではない。）

I went to university in New York. (to study)
私はニューヨークの大学い入った。（勉強をするために）
My friends went to the university to see the cherry blossoms. (not to study)
私の友達は花見をしにその大学へ行った。（勉強が目的ではない）

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Go to hospital / Go to the hospital

Knowing when to use the is often difficult. Some words have different meanings with or without the. The following words should be used without the when the idea or purpose of the place is important:

hospitalschool (college, university)prison (jail)church

Examples

If you needed an operation last year, you say:

I went to hospital.

The purpose of a hospital is to care for sick people, and you went there for that purpose. So you say hospital, not the hospital.

If you visited a sick friend, you say:

I went to the hospital.

You didn't go there because you were sick, you just went to that place, so you use the as you normally would.

More Examples

My son went to school this morning. (he went there to study)
I went to the school to meet his teacher. (I just met his teacher there)

My brother went to prison. (he robbed a bank)
I went to the prison to see him. (I visited him)

Do you go to church? (to pray)
I went to the church to take some photos. (the purpose was photography, not religion)

I went to university in New York. (to study)
My friends went to the university to see the cherry blossoms. (not to study)