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Can I say:"Neighbors stood over her as she lay in the middle of the street."Thanks

Goodman · Accepted Answer

Neighbors ~~stood~~ gathered over her as she was lying in the middle of the street."

Fashion101 · Answer

Thanks a lot for your quick response.

Anonymous · Answer

I won't open a new topic for this...

We wrote a test last week. And one excercise was "articles". And we (students) can't agree with our teacher on one thing:

Is your dad at __ work? No, he's at ___ hospital, having __ operation.

So, it's clear that the 1st is a zero article (without an article) and that the 3rd is AN. But we can't agree on the 2nd one... We're positive that the 2nd one is "at THE hospital", but our teacher says it's a zero article (at hospital).

So who's right?

(and if by any strange coincidence our teacher's right, please tell why!)

Thanks

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Can I say:

"Neighbors stood over her as she lay in the middle of the street."

There's nothing grammatically wrong with this.

Clive

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I won't open a new topic for this...

Actually, please do, next time.

We wrote a test last week. And one excercise was "articles". And we (students) can't agree with our teacher on one thing:

Is your dad at __ work? No, he's at ___ hospital, having __ operation.

So, it's clear that the 1st is a zero article (without an article) and that the 3rd is AN. But we can't agree on the 2nd one... We're positive that the 2nd one is "at THE hospital", but our teacher says it's a zero article (at hospital).

So who's right?

(and if by any strange coincidence our teacher's right, please tell why!)

If this is the complete conversation, without anything being said before this, the most natural thing is

Is your dad at work? No, he's in hospital, having an operation. Some people say 'in the hospital'.

'At hospital' is not a natural thing to say. When you use 'at the hospital', it sounds like you are just visiting a specific hospital.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

AnonymousI won't open a new topic for this...

We wrote a test last week. And one excercise was "articles". And we (students) can't agree with our teacher on one thing:

Is your dad at ___ work? No, he's at _the__ hospital, having _an_ operation.

So, it's clear that the 1st is a zero article (without an article) and that the 3rd is AN. But we can't agree on the 2nd one... We're positive that the 2nd one is "at THE hospital", but our teacher says it's a zero article (at hospital).

So who's right? (and if by any strange coincidence our teacher's right, please tell why!)

Thanks

Is your dad at ___ work? No, he's at _the__ hospital, having _an_ operation./ his knee operated on
The = The hospital where the operation takes place.

Articles sometimes can not be explained by grammar rules.

Goodman · Answer

Clive
Hi,

Can I say:

"Neighbors stood over her as she lay in the middle of the street."

There's nothing grammatically wrong with this.

Clive

Clive,

I wasn't saying it was wrong. "Stood over" just gave me an image that they straddled over her. That the reason I used "gathered".

Hoa Thai · Answer

Hi,

In my opinion, the preposition at is often connected to a location / premise, while in refers to being part of / taking part in / receiving care.

"I am at the hospital" = The hospital is where (the place / location) I am at.
"I am in the hospital" = I am working as one of the hospital's staff / I am a patient.

Question: Could 'I am in the hospital' be interpreted as 'I am inside the hospital'? I guess it depends on context (the magic word)

BarbaraPA · Answer

Just a reminder to our newer fans, in the US, if you are a patient, you are in the hospital. If you are in the UK and a patient, you are simply in hospital.

Yoong Liat · Answer

Where is he? He is in hospital. (This means he is an in-patient.)

Where is he? He is in the hospital. (This means he is a visitor or a doctor working in that hospital..)

The above sentences are based on BrE.

Is your dad at work? No, he's in hospital, having an operation. ( Based on the above sentences, 'in hospital having an operation' is BrE, while '... in the hospital ... ' is AmE.

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