# "Get to a doctor" vs "Get to the doctor" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362 "2011-02-23T18:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362/21 "2011-02-24T09:44:23Z")
Um, in my experience as a Brit both are used for different contexts (though they’re pretty interchangeable). Being ‘in hospital’ implies a prologued stay. “Where is Joe?” “He’s in the hospital.” - this implies that he may be visiting someone, or is only going to be there briefly for a quick check up. (It begs the question - what is he doing there? Is he okay?) “Where is Joe?” “He’s in hospital.” - this implies that he is being treated there. (It begs the question - what’s wrong with him?) But you can use ‘the’ to say someone is being treated too, if you want, nobody would find that odd. Removing ‘the’, in my head, definitely means you’re having some sort of treatment. Saying, “I’m going to hospital today” implies you’re having an operation, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362/22 "2011-02-24T10:15:56Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I’d argue that the Brits are the odd ones here. Us Yanks use “the” whenever we are talking about where a person is. “He’s in the bank” “He’s in the yard” “He’s in the car” etc. In hospital sounds like a usage probably related to hospital’s original meaning. Not really. You’ll also say “he’s out back” and things like that. English is just weird like that. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362/23 "2011-02-24T12:07:40Z")
> [@Fake Tales of San Francisco](#): > > this implies that he is being treated there. (It begs the question - what’s wrong with him?) Nah. The question it _really_ begs is: “Hospital?!? What is it?!?” “It’s a big building with a lot of rooms. But that’s not important right now!” 😃 I agree with others upthread; if my husband is home, and not feeling well, I might say “Maybe you’d better go see the doctor”, meaning ‘the doctor we normally see’. If he’s traveling and not feeling well, I might tell him “Gee, maybe you’d better see a doctor”, it means ‘whatever doctor might be available to treat you’. But trying to dissect the English language is an exercise in futility, I’m afraid. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362/24 "2011-02-24T12:20:10Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > And really, if you’re in need of THAT Doctor, you’re pretty well screwed anyway That’s why he has the screwdriver… eta: not _a_ screwdriver ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362/25 "2011-02-24T12:24:07Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > Um, in my experience as a Brit both are used for different contexts (though they’re pretty interchangeable). > > Being ‘in hospital’ implies a prologued stay. > > “Where is Joe?” > “He’s in the hospital.” > > - this implies that he may be visiting someone, or is only going to be there briefly for a quick check up. (It begs the question - what is he doing there? Is he okay?) It doesn’t “[beg the question](http://begthequestion.info/).” It “suggests” the question or it “raises” the question. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362/26 "2011-02-24T17:57:28Z")
I don’t like either suggest or raise, they don’t feel right. I’m aware there’s an actual logical fallacy by that name, but it’s used so commonly (round 'ere?) as a way of saying that something simply implies a question, that I don’t think that really matters. I’m highly against prescriptivist English and very much for how language is actually used in actual conversation. I don’t think there was any cause for confusion with what I wrote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-a-doctor-vs-get-to-the-doctor/572362.md?page=1)