Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[welkins2139]

she goes to church.

she goes to the church.

she sicks in bed.

she sick in her bed.

Are these sentences ok ?

If not, why ?

Thank you

[Anuradha Chepur]

If you are visiting a place for its primary purpose, you don't put an article. Otherwise you do.

For instance, if you want to meet the Father to invite him to a function or something, then you say 'went to the church'.

This holds for places like court, hospital, school, college, etc.

Possessive isn't used before 'bed' in your sentence.

She is sick in bed.
She went to bed. (not her bed)

Possessive is/can be used in sentences like;

Do your bed/ I did my bed/ The book is on my bed.

[CP]

"She goes to church" means she regularly attends church. "She goes to the church" means she goes there for some purpose, such as to pray for a relative.

"She sicks in bed" and "She sick in her bed" are not correct English. There is no verb "to sick," but rather we say that someone is sick or is ill or is ailing or ails. You can say,

"She is sick in bed," "She is lying in bed, sick," "She is sick in bed," "She is lying in bed because she is ailing," etc. The only reason to say "her bed" rather than just "bed" in these sentences is to emphasize where she is, but usually you would not put "her" into the sentence.

Yours truly, CP