Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[erik19283]

Hello,

As I understand it, "to go to hospital" is British English (BE) and "to go to the hospital" is American English (AE), right?

Same thing with "to be in hospital" (BE) and "to be in the hospital" (AE), am I wrong?

Then, would it be possible that "to call hospital" would be correct in BE and "to call the hospital" correct in AE?

Still about calling, can I "call at the doctor's office" or do I need to "call (the?) doctor's office"?

I hope I won't upset anyone, but sometimes I read that some people write that they are not so sure about something but think it is like this or like that. In that case, if you are not sure, please don't answer (at least, don't answer my post) and let someone who really knows do it. In some cases, the unsure person is wrong and may "teach" mistakes by trying to be nice. Good intentions are not always good enough!

[Hayde]

I don't know, but my mother and grandmother are British, and I have never heard them say that, but they probably have become Americanised (or actually Canadianised). Also, you won't find a lot of help trying to get the right answer from both American and British without asking. I am Canadian and a lot of my family is British, and I don't even know all the differences between the two. The best way would be to ask whether you want BE or AE, or both and then people can probably help better. Heck I just found out a year ago that Canada's most popular clothing brand name brand "Roots" means to have sex in Australia. So my wearing a shirt that said "Roots 73" made all of the Australians I was working with laugh

In AE, you always need the "the". As for the fourth one, again, I have never heard "call at the doctor's office" before. Definetly not AE.

[erik19283]

Thank you for your explanation.

[Hayde]

But your post made me think. From now on, when I give an answer, I'll say AE or BE. I never thought about it, but if I say something is wrong, it may only be wrong in AE. Thanks.