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“I went to THE post office”, “I went to THE train station”. These are typically used without context, and are exceptions that confuse learners, particularly tho
by itsthejb 4y ago
“I went to THE post office”, “I went to THE train station”. These are typically used without context, and are exceptions that confuse learners, particularly those who are learning about articles for the first time.
Regarding “I go to Church”, the verb to go here doesn’t actually mean movement, it’s a euphemism for “I worship”. Same with “temple”. If you say “I go to a/the church” you are actually stating movement towards a definite or indefinite place.
Again, these are challenging subtleties for language speakers where all nouns are conceptual. And most native speakers can’t explain these exceptions spontaneously
- nourwrong 4y agoI go to school.
- chrischen 4y agoI think school is in the same class as “work.”
- Izkata 4y ago> “I went to THE post office”, “I went to THE train station”. In my hometown: There's only 1 of each and wouldn't be confusing. Where I live now: Which one? These don't refute GP's definition, your examples are just missing the shared context that determines whether it's correct or not.
- cecilpl2 4y agoI think definiteness doesn't need to be a shared context. "I went to the the train station to pick up a map on my way here". "Great, thanks!" It was a specific train station that I chose intentionally or visit regularly, but it's not relevant to the conversation which one. If I were to use "a train station" then it implies I didn't care which train station it was.