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My English grammar book says "the" is common with places that we go to for a particular purpose (that is more important than the individual place or its location), so we go to the petrol station (to fill up our cars) or to the pub (for a drink).

Store, shop, gym, post office. Are these places for a particular purpose also? Although there is more than one of stores, shops, we use "the?" Do these places provide a service and so use "the".

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  • The practical meaning of "going to the supermarket" is "going shopping for food" (the activity). Same with "needed to go into the hospital" (in AmE), where it means "needed to be hospitalized". It doesn't refer to a particular hospital or supermarket (as you correctly surmised) but to the purpose the place serves. the in these uses is generic.
    – TimR on some device
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 18:21
  • @TimRonsomedevice The point is we're thinking more of activity rather than the place itself, right? What about "bank"? If the person with whom you're speaking has no idea which bank you're talking about, would you say go to the bank?
    – Nyambek
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 18:51
  • Yes, you're saying, in effect, that you need to do some banking. You're not referring to particular bank -- not unless there's only one bank in town :-)
    – TimR on some device
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 20:45
  • @TimRonsomedevice The heart pumps blood around the body. Why is there "the" in "heart" and "body"?
    – Nyambek
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 13:01
  • Because these nouns are being referred to generically. It's not a particular body and a particular heart. Much like "I need to go to the bank". Not a particular bank, but "the bank" as exemplar of any and all banks, a place where you do banking.
    – TimR on some device
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 16:04

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It would be common to use "the" in those contexts.

"I'm going to the post office" or "to the gym" are perfectly correct.

"I'm going to the shops" would be more common (as you would probably be visiting multiple shops for the particular purpose of shopping". But if you doing a particular type of shopping, you could say "I'm going to the supermarket" or "the hardware store", for example.

So:

  • The shops There is usually only one collection of shops in a town. You say "the shops" because they are the shops you usually go to, for the particular purpose of shopping.
  • The pub. Many people will habitually visit one pub, even if there are more than one pub in the town.
  • The bank. *Again, a town may have several banks, but I only use one of them.
  • The supermarket. Many towns only have one, even if there are several, I'll normally only visit one of them regularly.
  • The cinema Only the largest cities have more than one cinema.

But if the reference isn't clear you'd be less likely to use the.

  • The petrol station.
  • The shop *Contrast this with "the shops".
  • The house
  • The cafe

If from your personal context any of these could be specifically understood you can use "the". If a village only has one shop then "the shop" is understood. If you and a friend meet at a particular cafe after work each day then "the cafe" is understood. If you are talking to your housemate and you talk about "the house" the identity is understood.

Now suppose you are at a petrol station, and there are several in the town, all of which you use equally, and your friend asks you where you are. You don't say "I'm at the petrol station." Since that doesn't answer the question. You might say "I'm at the petrol station on Oak street", or "The petrol station by the supermarket". By saying "by the supermarket" you identify the station, so you use "the petrol station". Or you cooperatively understand that your friend doesn't really want to know where you are but why you aren't with them, so you might reply "I'm getting petrol".

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    So the individual place or its location is not important in this context, right? We're thinking more of activity rathen the place itself although the listener doesn't know a place which I mean in. Am I right?
    – Nyambek
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 17:51
  • You could be speaking on the phone to a friend who's never been to the place where you now live. If he asks about your social life, you might say "I go down the pub once or twice a week". He doesn't know which pub you're talking about, obviously. But he will probably understand that you mean a local pub - which isn't necessarily the nearest pub, but obviously it's the pub you usually go to. If you said I go to a pub once or twice a week, he'd probably assume that you went to different pubs (not always the same one, you don't have your own particular "local").
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 18:08
  • @FumbleFingers What about places such as "store", "market", "gym", "book store"? Is it the same as your explanation above? Which means local store/market/gym/book store eventhough the person I'm speaking to doesn't know which of them I'm talkikg about.
    – Nyambek
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 18:36
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    Exactly that. I'm going to the gym = the gym that I usually go to. So "I'm going to the store" is less common for people in a town (with many shops) but perhaps in a village (with one village store) it would make sense. It is culturally common to go to the same pub, and the same gym. But not so much for "book store" But in a university context (in which there is a university book shop) this may be more likely.
    – James K
    Commented Dec 3, 2023 at 22:43
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    @Nyambek Why do you keep asking the same question when FF answered this in his second comment?? And a later comment.
    – Lambie
    Commented Dec 10, 2023 at 19:16

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