Zero Articles for Buildings: Exercise

Read the sentences and answer the questions:

1. “I drove past the prison yesterday.”
Am I an ex-prisoner or a guard?

2. “I left hospital two hours ago.” (UK)
Am I a patient or a doctor?

3. “The police took me to the prison.”
Am I a prisoner or a lawyer?

4. “I saw them outside church.”
Am I / they worshippers or not?

5. “She hates the college.”
Is she a student or an architect?

6. “Larry starts school at 9am.”
Is Larry is a student or a teacher?

7. “What age did you leave school?”
Am I talking about when ‘you’ used to be a student?

ANSWERS:

1. Answer: Either ex-prisoner or guard. This is “the prison” as a building. Even if I used to be a prisoner there, I am no longer under its care, so I do not  omit the article. 

2. Answer: A patient (in UK English). A doctor would probably say “I finished my shift two hours ago”. Note that if the speaker is American/Canadian s/he could be a doctor or a patient (because in US English "the hospital" can mean a hospital in general).

3. Answer: A lawyer (“the” prison). If I were a prisoner I would say the police took me “to prison”.

4. Answer: Yes, we are worshippers – no article used. If I say “the church”, I am talking about the church simply as a building. There is no implication of going into the church to pray.

5. Answer: Most likely an architect. Adding “the” moves the emphasis from the care provided by the college to the college as a building.

6. Answer: Probably a student. A teacher would probably say “I start teaching at 9am”

7. Answer: Yes. “To leave school” is an expression meaning to end one’s school education.

[End of exercise]