Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

What does the sentence "I go to the University of X." means? Does it necessarily mean that 'I study at the University of X' or can it also mean that 'I walk/drive/etc. to the University of X'?

What about "I go to a university."? What does this sentence mean?

I came across these two sentences on a handout on capitalisation. They are used to illustrate the difference between the non-capitalised generic noun and the capitalised noun when used as a proper noun.

Many thanks,

Nawee

[CP]

"Go to" means "attend" or "study at" in these sentences.

I attend the University of California San Diego. I go to college. I study at the university. I am a student at UCSD.

You could use "go to" to mean "drive to" and so on, but you would want to be a little more specific so as not to imply that you are a student there.

I go to UCSD to catch the bus to the restaurant where I wash dishes.
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