# Why do British English speakers omit the definite article? "Go to Hospital!"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-english-speakers-omit-the-definite-article-go-to-hospital/457206>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 21, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-english-speakers-omit-the-definite-article-go-to-hospital/457206 "2008-07-21T00:12:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-english-speakers-omit-the-definite-article-go-to-hospital/457206/81 "2015-06-08T13:23:30Z")

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> [@bob\_2](#):
>
> _A Brit would say “I’ll be at uni in/this autumn”._? This would be pretty ambiguous. A Student would say "I’ll be back at (or starting) Uni in the Autumn or they might say “I’ll be at uni this autumn”. A lecturer might say "I’ll be at The University in the Autumn. (but only if ‘The University’ was already known, otherwise he would name it).

I’m struggling to see the ambiguity.

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**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-english-speakers-omit-the-definite-article-go-to-hospital/457206/82 "2015-06-08T21:55:44Z")

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nm. Stupid old thread.

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