Re: Countries with needless definite article.

[mje@xxxxxxxx]

[Matt Gumm:]
> Michael: do Australians go "in the hospital," like Americans, or do 
> they go "in hospital," like the English?

   They go "to hospital".
   I've never heard of the others, not even in American or British
novels I've read from time to time. (It could be that I've
encountered it, but just not remembered.)
   I wonder if this could be a usage that differs with locality
even within a given country; but I'm pretty sure "to hospital" is
universal in Australia, at least. (Even if you were referring to a
specific hospital, you would not usually prefix "hospital" with "the".
 But a person going to a specific hospital to visit a patient, or for
some other reason, might "go to the hospital" or "visit someone at the
hospital", etc.)

             Regards,
             Michael Edwards.