- He is at home. He went home. I arrived home after dark. I sent him home. They went to their new home. We arrived at the bride’s home. For some years this was the home of your queen. A mud hut was the only home he had ever known.
[Cuando ‘home’ se usa solo, i.e. no está precedido ni seguido por una palabra o frase que lo describan, ‘the’ se omite. ‘home’ usado de este modo puede colocarse inmediatamente a continuación de un verbo de movimiento o de un grupo compuesto por ‘ ‘verbo de movimiento’ + objeto,’ es decir tratarse como un adverbio. Cuando ‘home’ va precedido o seguido por una palabra o frase descriptivas se le trata como a cualquier otro nombre.]
2. We go to bed (to sleep or as invalids). We are in bed (sleeping o resting). We go to church (to pray). We are at church (as worshippers). We go to court (as litigants). We are in court (as witnesses). We go to hospital (as patients). We are in hospital (as patients). We leave hospital. We go to prison (as prisoners). We are released from prison. Wo go to school (… college, … university) (to study). We are at school (… college, … university) (as students). We leave school. We are back/We get back/We are home/We get home from school (… college, … university).I went to the church to see the stained glass. He goes to the prison sometimes to give lectures.
[Con los nombres ‘bed,’ ‘church,’ ‘court,’ ‘hospital,’ ‘prison,’ ‘school,’ ‘college’ ‘university’ no se usa ‘the’ cuando estos lugares son visitados o empleados para su finalidad propia. En caso contrario, el uso de ‘the’ es obligatorio.]
3. We go to sea (as sailors). We are at sea (‘on a voyage,’ as passengers or crew). We go to the sea (i.e.: ‘We go to the seaside’). We are at the sea (i.e.: ‘We are at the seaside’). We live by the sea. We live near the sea.
[Con ‘sea,’ el uso de ‘the’ es similar. Se omite cuando ‘sea’ denota una actividad relacionada con la navegación (uso propio). Se emplea cuando ‘sea’ hace referencia a un lugar geográfico, ‘la costa,’ ‘the seaside,’ o ‘el mar,’ como ‘masa de agua’ con la que limita la tierra.]
4. He’s on his way to work. He is at work. He isn’t back from work yet. He’s hard at work on a new picture. He is at the office. He is in the office. He is in office. He is out of office.
[‘work’ (‘lugar de trabajo’) se usa sin el artículo determinado. ‘at work’ también puede significar ‘working’; ‘hard at work’ equivale a ‘working hard.’ ‘office’ (‘oficina,’ lugar de trabajo’) necesita ‘the.’ ‘to be in office’ (sin ‘the’) significa ‘tener un puesto oficial,’ normalmente político; ‘to be out of office,’ ya no tenerlo.]
5. We go to town sometimes to buy clothes. We were in town last Monday.
[‘the’ se omite ante ‘town’ cuando este nombre hace referencia a la ciudad del sujeto o la persona que habla.]
A Practical English Grammar (A.J. Thomson & A.V. Martinet) 