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phaedrus
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Location: I'm comin' to get ya.
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 Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:15 pm Post subject: Articles |
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Why do articles get dropped for some words?
We can say "go to school" rather than "go to the school".
How about "institute" (academy)? Do we say "go to institute", "go to an institute", "go to the institute", or something like "go to my institute"?
I go to school at 8:30.
I go to institute at 4:30. |
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J.B. Clamence
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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go to the institute
As for the reason, some words evolved to be used without articles in certain situations, like "school" and "home." Others like "institute" didn't, probably because they are not as commonly used. If you're looking for a grammatical rule, there isn't one -- not a logical and consistent one, anyway. |
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d503
Joined: 16 Oct 2004
Location: Daecheong, Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:41 pm Post subject: Re: Articles |
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| phaedrus wrote: |
| We can say "go to school" rather than "go to the school". |
I think both of these can actually be used. in the first case you are using school in a more abstract sense. It means more of the place where you get your learning done, and less of the actual building. "I go to school at the park." The second one you use if you are going to the building. "We go to the school and file Market day orders."
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| How about "institute" (academy)? Do we say "go to institute", "go to an institute", "go to the institute", or something like "go to my institute"? |
To me "go to institute" sounds a little funny. I think mainly because I am more likely to use school in that connotation. But now I am taking an English class at an institute. I could say, "I go to institute to learn Korean." But I would say, "I learn Korean at an institute." In the first sentence institute is a more abstract idea and in the second it is a building.
Abstracts generally don't get articles or modifiers. |
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