Zero definite article
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Zero definite article is a linguistics process where the definite article the is not used in certain places.
The definite article is often omitted before e.g. prison, school, and (in non-American dialects) hospital, hence:
- She is in hospital.
- He was taken to prison.
when this is a generalisation rather than a specific location.
Where a particular location is meant, then the definite article is used, viz.
- He was taken to the prison.
- She was collected from the hospital.
In some nonstandard forms of English English, the is omitted in places that standard English has it, leading to sentences like this:
- I'm going to store. (I'm going to the store)
- I'm driving down road. (I'm driving down the road)
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