A
Compare school and the school:
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Claudia is 10 years old. Every day she goes to school.
She’s at school now. School begins at 8:30 and ends at 3:00
We say a child goes to school or is in school (as a student).
We are not necessarily thinking of a specific school.
We re thinking of school as a general idea.
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Today Claudia’s mother wants to speak to her daughter’s teacher.
So she has gone to the school to see her.
She’s at the school now.
Claudia’s mother is not a student.
She is not “in school,” she doesn’t “go to school.”
If she wants to see Claudia’s teacher, she goes to the school (= Claudia’s school, a specific school).
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B
We use prison/jail, college, class, and church in a similar way.
We do not use the when we are thinking of the general idea of these places and what they are used for.
Compare:
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– Ken’s brother is in prison for robbery.
(He is a prisoner. We are not thinking of a specific prison.)
- When I finish high school, I want to go to college.
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Mrs.Kelly goes to church every Sunday. (to a religious service)
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I was in class for five hours today.
(= attending a class or classes in high school or college)
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– Ken went to the prison to visit his brother. (He went as a visitor, not as a prisoner.)
- Dan is a student at the college where I used to work. (= a particular college)
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Some workmen went to the church to repair the roof. (not for a religious service)
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Who is the youngest student in the class? (= a specific group of students)
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With most other places, you need the, For example, the hospital, the bank, the station.
C
Bed
work
home
We say go to bed / be in bed, etc. (not the bed):
– It’s time to go to bed now.
– Do you ever have breakfast in bed?
– I sat down on the bed. (a specific piece of furniture)
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work, etc. (not the work):
– Ann didn’t go to work yesterday.
– What time do you usually finish work?
go home / come home / arrive home / get home / be (at) home, etc:
– It’s late. Let’s go home.
– Will you be (at) home tomorrow afternoon?
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