"Go to home" and "go home": why Korean students add articles where English drops them

Article or no article?

Some places drop "the" when you're doing the normal thing there. Add "the" when it's just a building.

The test:

Ask: Am I doing the usual thing at this place?

• YES → no article
• NO → use "the"

Examples:

✅ I go to school. (to study—normal) ❌ I go to the school to study. ✅ I went to the school to vote. (not studying—just a building)

✅ She's in hospital. (as a patient) ✅ She's in the hospital visiting her friend. (not a patient)

✅ He's at work. (doing his job) ✅ He's at the office downtown. (specific building, or not his usual workplace)

✅ I'm going to bed. (to sleep) ✅ I'm going to the bed to move it. (not sleeping)

Practice:

Mark each sentence ✅ (correct) or ❌ (wrong). Rewrite if wrong.

1. I go to the school every day.
2. She's at the work right now.
3. He goes to church on Sundays.
4. They went to the hospital to see the baby.
5. I was in the bed all morning.
6. My brother is at the university in Busan.
7. She went to the church to use the photocopier.
8. I'm going to bed now.