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Aya-san Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

go THE dentist

01. I 'm going to01font00 the02font00 dentist.02br
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002. I'm going to dentist.02br
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00Someone told me that in American English, 01font00the02font00 is put in the sentences like No.1 above,even though a speaker is02br
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00not talking about some specific dentist. Whereas in British English it's not.(No2)02br
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00Is it true? 0-
  

Top answer

0I can't confirm the British English, but I can confirm for American English. "0-

— BarbaraPA

  • 0I can't confirm the British English, but I can confirm for American English.
  • "0-
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11 Answers
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0I can't confirm the British English, but I can confirm for American English. You need the "the." 02br
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00Likewise, "he is in the hospital right now," which I understand BrE would be simply "in hospital" without the "the."0-
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0Is there any chance that listeners get confused whether the speaker is talking about a specific one or not?0-
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0 "The" is in reference to a specific or established person, place/event, or thing. 02br
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00I reported THE incident to THE police.02br
00He went to THE concert.02br
00She is in THE library.02br
00Who has THE pencil sharpener?02br
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00Contrast this with "a" which is in reference to any 1 from a group.02br
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0I'm sorry to disagree with Wwwdotcom, but there is somehow a unique use of "the" in reference to medical practioners, in American English.02br
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01i00My tooth hurts - I better get to THE dentist02i00. Or 01i00I had an appointment with the dentist yesterday02i00. I'd never say 01i00"with a dentist."02i02br
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0 "I'm sorry to disagree with Wwwdotcom, but there is somehow a unique use of "the" in reference to medical practioners, in American English."02br
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00I don't see what you are disagreeing with. I never said there wasn't a unique use of "the"....02br
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00"01i00My tooth hurts - I better get to THE dentist02i00. Or 01i0
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0In British English, you would say:02br
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001. I'm going to see the dentist tonight. (Or "to the dentist's".)02br
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002. I'm going to see the doctor tonight. (Or "to the doctor's".)02br
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003. I'm going into hospital next week for an operation. (No article: your visit has a personal medical purpose.)02br
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0I misunderstood your post. I thought you were saying that if it were the SAME doctor, you meant one in common with your listener and therefore you could say "the" because your listener and you had the same doctor - and therefore already knew what doctor you meant. Sorry.0-
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0 Ok, now we have a difference.02br
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00I didn't mean "one in common with your listener". If I say, "I have to go to the bank", that doesn't mean you also have an account at the same bank. Try post office also. I am going to "a" post office or "the" post office?02br
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00Obviously, I don't think you are coming to my town's post office to send your
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0Thank you Grammar Geek, Wwwdotcom and MrPedantic for helping me understand this.02br
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00 I think I unserstand that in both American and British English, you need 'the' when you refer to medical practitioners and when02br
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00it's assumed that you know which one to go to.0-
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It doesn't identify a specific dentist, but we often have THE same doctor, dentist, lawyer, etc... so it is more likely you are seeing a specific person, not just any dentist. If you don't believe me, take it to YOUR lawyer.
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