5 ms·

I saw one the other day on a news article where they'd put something like "They took him to hospital [sic]." The journalist hadn't realised that "to hospital" i

by Nition 6y ago

I saw one the other day on a news article where they'd put something like "They took him to hospital [sic]." The journalist hadn't realised that "to hospital" is correct English.

krackers 6y ago
"took him to hospital" sounds very weird. Are you sure that's standard in american english?
- Nition 6y ago
  Well now I'm learning something here. I see that it's not standard English in the USA. I'm in a commonwealth country where that's the standard way to say it[1], and both the source of the quote and the article were local. But now I wonder if the journalist writing it might have been originally from the USA. [1] https://www.quora.com/Which-is-grammatically-correct-he-was-admitted-to-hospital-or-to-the-hospital https://www.quora.com/Which-is-grammatically-correct-he-was-...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- midasuni 6y ago
  It’s perfectly normal in English English
- ivanche 6y ago
  Why is it weird? Genuinely interested because, as a non-native speaker, I would have said exactly like that.
  - QuesnayJr 6y ago
    In the US, you would use an article before "hospital": either "a" or "the".
    - Majromax 6y ago
      To elaborate, it appears that American English treats "hospital" as a place. So you go to the hospital, just like you go to the airport, or the subway station. On the other hand, Commonwealth English treats "hospital" as something more like a state. You go to hospital just like you go to work.
      - QuesnayJr 6y ago
        That's a good way to think about it. I couldn't think of a rule for when I drop the article. I guess for the state in the US we would say "hospitalized". So I would say "he was hospitalized", unless the identity of "they" in the original quote was important.
        mattowen_uk 6y ago
        Seeing as you've brought up an '-ized' word... Can you explain the US usage of the word 'Burglarized', when 'Burgled' is perfectly adequate? I know online dictionaries say both are correct, but irregardless[1] it's one of those words that really irritates me. -- [1] Yes, using that word is an attempt at written humour.
        Majromax 6y ago
        "Burgle" is not a particularly common verb (746k results for "burgle" with quotes on Google) compared to "burglar" (40m), so it's not on the tip of the tongue. The American instinct is then to reconstruct a verb from the more common noun, and the -ize pattern fits. I'd guess that if you asked an American, they'd say that a burglar robs.
        Jach 6y ago
        If you refer to the place by its name, then I think you can drop the article. e.g. "I went to Burger King"; saying "I went to the Burger King" would be fine on its own but a bit odd if you're not going to add further clarifying information suggested by your use of "the", such as "... on main street (as opposed to the one on 5th)". Similarly, "I went to Overlake Medical Center (the nearest hospital)".

by Nition 6y ago

I saw one the other day on a news article where they'd put something like "They took him to hospital [sic]." The journalist hadn't realised that "to hospital" is correct English.

krackers 6y ago

"took him to hospital" sounds very weird. Are you sure that's standard in american english?

Nition 6y ago
Well now I'm learning something here. I see that it's not standard English in the USA. I'm in a commonwealth country where that's the standard way to say it[1], and both the source of the quote and the article were local. But now I wonder if the journalist writing it might have been originally from the USA. [1] https://www.quora.com/Which-is-grammatically-correct-he-was-admitted-to-hospital-or-to-the-hospital https://www.quora.com/Which-is-grammatically-correct-he-was-...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
midasuni 6y ago
It’s perfectly normal in English English
ivanche 6y ago
Why is it weird? Genuinely interested because, as a non-native speaker, I would have said exactly like that.
- QuesnayJr 6y ago
  In the US, you would use an article before "hospital": either "a" or "the".
  - Majromax 6y ago
    To elaborate, it appears that American English treats "hospital" as a place. So you go to the hospital, just like you go to the airport, or the subway station. On the other hand, Commonwealth English treats "hospital" as something more like a state. You go to hospital just like you go to work.
    - QuesnayJr 6y ago
      That's a good way to think about it. I couldn't think of a rule for when I drop the article. I guess for the state in the US we would say "hospitalized". So I would say "he was hospitalized", unless the identity of "they" in the original quote was important.
      - mattowen_uk 6y ago
        Seeing as you've brought up an '-ized' word... Can you explain the US usage of the word 'Burglarized', when 'Burgled' is perfectly adequate? I know online dictionaries say both are correct, but irregardless[1] it's one of those words that really irritates me. -- [1] Yes, using that word is an attempt at written humour.
        Majromax 6y ago
        "Burgle" is not a particularly common verb (746k results for "burgle" with quotes on Google) compared to "burglar" (40m), so it's not on the tip of the tongue. The American instinct is then to reconstruct a verb from the more common noun, and the -ize pattern fits. I'd guess that if you asked an American, they'd say that a burglar robs.
      - Jach 6y ago
        If you refer to the place by its name, then I think you can drop the article. e.g. "I went to Burger King"; saying "I went to the Burger King" would be fine on its own but a bit odd if you're not going to add further clarifying information suggested by your use of "the", such as "... on main street (as opposed to the one on 5th)". Similarly, "I went to Overlake Medical Center (the nearest hospital)".