"He died and went to heaven." That makes sense because there is only one heaven (presumably). So, what is the explanation for the persistent lack of article in UK spoken English in cases like the following:
- The prime minister is in hospital for a routine evaluation.
The student went to univeristy to study French.
I would think the above would be correct if there is only one hospital and only one university in the world. In fact, there are many hospitals and many universities, and these people (if they really existed) are in one specific hospital or attending one specific university.
What am I missing?
(There is a good chance that is has been addressed before. If it has been addressed ad nauseum, I can only say mea culpa.)
