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I went to the country.

I went to the countryside.

Which version is correct? What are differences? I don't mean "a town" but "a rural place".

Also.

Would you say:

I moved to the country.

or

I moved to the countryside.

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  • See also ell.stackexchange.com/questions/72949/… – Tᴚoɯɐuo Jan 22 '17 at 14:07
  • I'm not sure why the question assumes that the choice has to be only one of the two, but not the other. (I assume that this question was taken from an exercise in your textbook or something.) For me, either is quite possible. – Damkerng T. Jan 22 '17 at 16:33
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countryside and the country mean slightly different things. Have you tried to look up the definition of countryside in a dictionary? If you do, it'll say that countryside means the land and scenery of a rural area. Whereas the term the country means a location situated somewhere far away from a major metropolitan area. Living in the country is the opposite of living in the city.

So, when somebody asks you where did you move, you're going to say:

I moved to the country.

Check this post as well: Why is the definite article used in "I live in the city"?

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  • Can I say?: I went to the country to visit my grandma. – user46036 Jan 22 '17 at 14:08
  • @user46036 Yes, but it may not be clear unless you added more information. For example, I visited my grandma in the country north of this city. Someone could use country to mean France or Spain, too. So the word country needs to be in context for it to work. If I know already that you mean the country to mean a rural area close to a city, then you need no further context. English is confusing. ;) – WRX Jan 22 '17 at 16:11

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