B1 · Intermediate

School, hospital, bed and work: with or without the

With words such as school, hospital, bed and work, the article depends on what you mean. If you talk about the activity (being a student, being a patient, sleeping, doing your job), use no article. If you talk about the building or object itself, use the when it is clear which one you mean. (With hospital, the no-article pattern is British English; American English prefers in the hospital for a patient too.)

The idea: activity or building?

Some nouns name a place or an object, but you often talk about what people do there. When you talk about the activity, use no article. When you talk about the building or object itself, use the when the listener knows which one you mean.

No article: the activity	With the: the known building
Grandpa is in hospital this week.he is a patient	The visitors wait in the hospital entrance.they are in the building
My son is at school now.a student	Grandma goes to the school to vote.the building
We went to bed early after the long journey.to sleep	Your glasses are on the bed.the furniture

The first column is about a role or an activity. The second column is about a physical place.

School

At school I enjoyed maths, but not languages. I was a student
The children go to school by bus.
My mother is at the school to talk to the teacher. she is a visitor in the building

Hospital

In British English, a patient is in hospital or goes to hospital, with no article. Speakers of American English usually say in the hospital and to the hospital for a patient as well. Both patterns are correct; the examples on this page follow the British pattern.

After the operation, she spent four days in hospital. a patient
The injured man was taken to hospital.
I met my friend in the hospital car park. the building

Prison

The same idea works with prison. If you are a prisoner, you are in prison. If you are a visitor or you work in the building, you can say in the prison.

He was sent to prison for two years.

Bed

Use go to bed when you go there to sleep. Use the bed when you talk about a particular bed as furniture.

The baby goes to bed at seven.
The cat is asleep on the bed.

Work

Use work with no article for the place where you do your job.

It is eight o'clock and Father has already gone to work.
She is at work; she cannot answer the phone.

Watch out

✗Intended meaning: going to sleep. It was midnight, so I went straight to the bed.

✓Intended meaning: going to sleep. It was midnight, so I went straight to bed.

The intended meaning is going to sleep, and the fixed expression for that is go to bed, with no article. Went to the bed can be correct for moving towards a particular bed, but the intended meaning here is sleep.

✗My brother is at the work today.

✓My brother is at work today.

When work means the place where you do your job, use no article.

What comes next

For the general idea of no article, see Talking in general: no article, and the and No article (zero article). For the use of a, an and the, see A, an or the?: introducing and identifying. For names of places, see Names with and without the: people, places, buildings and more.

Practice

Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.