At School and at the School
Compare school and the school:
Alison is ten years old. Every day she goes to
school. She's at school now. School
begins at 9 and finishes at 3.
When we say that a child is at school or goes to school, we are not necessarily thinking
of a particular school. We are thinking of
school as a general idea.
Today Alison'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.
Alison's mother is not a pupil. She is not \"at
school\", she doesn't \"go to school\". But if she
wants to see Alison's teacher, she goes to the
school (= Alison's school, a particular school).
We use prison, hospital, university, 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. |