Articles: 'the' or no article

Do you know when you need to use the in common phrases and place names? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see when the is and isn't used.

I'm going to bed.
I walk to work.
My children are going to start school.
I visited the school yesterday.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: Articles 2: Grammar test 1

Grammar explanation

Here are some ways we use articles in common phrases and place names.

Common phrases

We don't usually use an article in expressions with bed, work and home.

go to bed / be in bed
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work
go home / be at home / get home / stay at home

We also don't normally use an article in expressions with school, university, prison and hospital.

start school / go to school / be at school
go to university / be at university
be sent to prison / go to prison / be in prison
go to hospital / be in hospital

But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient, etc.

My son has started school now. I went to the school to meet his teacher.
I went to the prison a lot when I was a social worker.
I'm at the hospital. My sister has just had a baby.

Place names

We don't normally use an article for continents, most countries, cities, towns, lakes, mountains or universities. So, we say:

Africa, Asia, Europe
India, Ghana, Peru, Denmark
Addis Ababa, Hanoi, New York, Moscow
Lake Victoria, Lake Superior, Lake Tanganyika
Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus
Cardiff University, Harvard University, Manchester University

Some countries are different. Country names with United have the. There are other countries which are exceptions too. So, we say:

the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America
the Bahamas, the Gambia

Seas and oceans, mountain ranges and rivers have the:

the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean
the Andes, the Himalayas, the Alps
the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze

Universities with of in the title also have the:

the University of Cape Town, the University of Delhi, the University of Tokyo

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: Articles 2: Grammar test 2

Try another grammar lesson

Language level

A1 Elementary

A2 Pre-intermediate

we don't use 'an' article in expression with bed and home more over we don't use 'an' article with school, University and Hospital.

we use "the" if someone visited the place ( i went to the school to meet my son-completed sentence)

We don't usually use "the" with place name with exceptions. Also don't use "the" if you're just visiting the place. (completed)

Can anyone please clear my doubt why article the is used in question number 4 grammar test 2

Every Friday my grandad goes to ______prison to teach a maths class.

Here grandad is not visiting prison he goes there for his teaching work so the use of article "the" does not make any sense according to the rules mentioned above.

Hello Reshmi Sultana,

The rule on the page says this:

But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient

The key point here is in the second part: "not there as a student/prisoner/patient". In other words, if you say 'go to prison' you are implying that the person is a criminal/prisoner; if you say 'go to school', they are a student/pupil etc.

Since the granddad here is not a prisoner, 'the' is appropriate.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

What if he is a guard, guarding prisoners, will we drop the article 'the'? And as for hospitals, what if the person of interest is a doctor going there as part of the treatment process? Thanks in advance for you time.

Hello Rasha Assem,

Go to prison / be sent to prison means 'be/become a prisoner'. It is only used in that sense. In other contexts, articles rules apply normally. The same applies to go to hospital, end up in court, and so on.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team