What's your feedback on the subject . . . of "the", that is!
I've never actually thought about this before, but you're right. Further, the UK-English usage is irregular, in that I'd never say "I went to cinema" or "I went to railway station" or "I went to cricket match" or "I went to house of ill . . ." Well, whatever.
It's only a few instances where the article is dropped: hospital, university, school, prison, church, etc. While I can dimly see a sort of qualitative difference between these and, say, cricket match (when you're talking about a cricket match you're talking about this match, not a generic item), that difference evaporates when you consider cinema or theatre.
no subject
What's your feedback on the subject . . . of "the", that is!
I've never actually thought about this before, but you're right. Further, the UK-English usage is irregular, in that I'd never say "I went to cinema" or "I went to railway station" or "I went to cricket match" or "I went to house of ill . . ." Well, whatever.
It's only a few instances where the article is dropped: hospital, university, school, prison, church, etc. While I can dimly see a sort of qualitative difference between these and, say, cricket match (when you're talking about a cricket match you're talking about this match, not a generic item), that difference evaporates when you consider cinema or theatre.
So, I dunno, really.