Articles and idioms

Question

Hello everyone!I have two questions1. "to go to work"Is "work" Noun or Verb?If it Noun, why is it without an article?  2.   "to go to bed"   Why is "bed"  without an article?

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Linian_U1. "to go to work"Is "work" Noun or Verb?If it Noun why is it without an article?

Verb. It is part of the infinitive form of "work", i.e. he goes to work everyday at 6.
Why do you think it needs an article? Can you give us a few examples?

Linian_U2. "to go to bed" Why is "bed" without an article?

"Go to bed", as a mother may tell her child, is the short version of " [You should] go to bed.
He is going to bed. Bed is a noun, a "destination" so to speak vs. "work" is a verb.
If the mother says" Go to sleep". Then "sleep" is a verb for the same meaning.
In general, nouns like "bed", "school", and "home" do requires an article after "to".
But "the" is required in contexts like: I am going to [the] bank, library, post office, supermarket, the mall, beach,ans etc...Any public places, requires the article "the".

Is this clear?.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

dimsumexpressIn general, nouns like "bed", "school", and "home" do requires an article after "to".

Ooops, I meant to say: In general, nouns like "bed", "school", and "home" do [not] requires an article after "to".

CalifJim · Answer

There are a number of cases where the article is omitted. These are purely idiomatic. Here are some:

GO:
to work, to school, to church, to class, to town, to bed

BE:
at work, at school, at church, in class, in town, in bed
________________

'work' can be a noun or a verb.

I don't have to go to work tomorrow. (work ~ my place of work)
We didn't have much time, so we went to work on the problem immediately.

CJ

Linian_U · Answer

Thank you for you answer

It is an absolutely completed answer.

-"Why do you think it needs an article? Can you give us a few examples?"

And "articles" is soooooooo difficult part of grammatic. There are many questions for me.

I thought, "work" is noun, because it can be a "destination" too. "work" - a place where I usually do my job, my workplace (office, factory, etc.)
Is that meaning wrong?

nouns like "bed", "school", and "home" don't requires an article after "to".

That is what I want to know

Any public places, requires the article "the".

Thank you, I will use it

Linian_U · Answer

Great! Examples of idioms for "GO"!
Thank you for your answer!

I should remember these idioms.

So. A noun or a verb? It depends on what I want to say.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Hi,
Work - can be a noun, as CJ explained. One fact all learners should realize; what we learned from the textbook is just basic rules and typicality. In actual everyday application, there are often anomaly and exceptions to the rule. People who are not English speaking natives will have to continue learning the intricate parts of this language which are not included in the school kit, if anyone is to have the desire to master the beast.

Anonymous · Answer

There are often exceptions to the rule, anomaly no, doesn't mean anything. If it did it should be plural.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Anonymousanomaly no, doesn't mean anything.

Anomaly: deviation from the common rule : http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregularity

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anomaly

AnonymousIf it did it should be plural.

Very curious... So in your opinion, this word can not be used in its singular form?
Anomaly is any isolated irregularity. I agree,plural can be used however.

Linian_U · Answer

I agree with you
I think, I know English grammar better than my own language

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