I think it depends on the context. For example, I could have said that it depends on context, and that would have also been verbally correct. If we have one container of blueberries in the refrigerator and I ate them, I might tell my wife that I ate the blueberries, in case she had plans for them, because, in that case, I am referring to a specific container of blueberries. However, if I go to the store and buy some blueberries to eat, if I felt it necessary to speak of it, I would say that I ate blueberries or that I ate a whole container of blueberries, but I wouldn't say that I ate the blueberries. Like all real Americans, I would say that I went to the hospital rather than that I went to hospital. In fact, as I write this, Grammarly is prompting me to add "the" to the last part of that sentence. On the other hand, we have one grocery store here in Millinocket now, and it's a Hannaford's store. My wife always says she's going to the Hannaford's, and I correct her because I would say that I am going to Hannaford's. We only have one, and it's not like I'm going to drive to another town to shop at another Hannaford's when we have one here. Since Grammarly is not prompting me to add a "the" to it, then I must be right.
That's how I think it should be...that "the" denotes a specific individual object, not just some general reference. I'm the same way (even though journalists suddenly decided to align themselves with the Motherland.) So why do you think it's different when referring to school? A kid leaves in the morning to "go to school," not "go to the school." Is "school" in that context really a concept of the learning process, while "hospital" is always just a building? If a kid were leaving in the evening for an after-hours event, I bet he/she would say "I'm going to the school," because now it's an event location and not the education experience. Or is the whole thing less an issue of grammar and more one of just usage? This issue is one reason why I never grasped the different parts of speech in our language until I took Spanish. Since there are few exceptions and so many consistencies (colloquialisms notwithstanding), it suddenly all made sense to me. Fifty years later and I'm struggling with "the blueberries."
I'm thinking that if the reference is to a particular school, then I would add "the" to it, as in going to the high school, but if the town has more than one, then the school name would be used, which wouldn't be preceded by "the." Yeah, I know that it's complicated, but the important thing is that however I do it, that's the right way, even if it's contradictory and doesn't make any sense.
It's funny, I'll say I'm going to "the store" with no specific reference to the type (grocery store, department store, etc.), not I'm going to "a store." I would never say "the Walmart."
I think I sat next to you in Spanish class I just wish the guy on the commercial would eat the damned blueberries and be done with it, but I suspect he'll be eating "the blueberries" and drinking "the coffee" every morning for the rest of "the life."
I thought Beth put up this thread, but find its you, so thanks for the lesson, I've noticed more 'the's than needed. But you may be a busy man teaching me proper grammar. Most of my adult life has been spent on kids and animals, but then I repeat myself.
I don't know anyone who speaks with perfect grammar without sounding like they were transported out of the 1800s...not that I would know what perfect grammar is.
Thomas, I grew up on a "just plain dirt farm," which I'm kinda proud of. The dirt farm saw me through my undergraduate and PHD (German and English Phonology), Some of the other things on this thread: If I wake up in a bed with wires connecting me to beeping machines, I'd likely say: "Am I in THE hospital?" There are several close by. About the coffee and berries: Obviously the meal has two or more parts and coffee and berries is one of them. About perfect grammar. I spent a career teaching grammar in two languages. I think I mentioned elsewhere here that as a teacher it's easier to find mistakes in someone else's writing as in my own.
Not so sure about being a teacher being more prone to proper lango. My teacher in Atlanta Georgia was not good with grammar at all. She would not only use made-up words but would drag them out with her southern drawl.
Like you, I wouldn’t know what perfect grammar would even sound or look like. I mean, I do well with what I do but when I look at some Victorian era texts or even those that were published in Middle English, I become super comfortable with what knowledge I have all the sudden. Ever try reading a REAL 1611 King James Bible? Ya don’t worry about where the “the’ s” are put because you worry about being able to fully comprehend what is written at all.
I have two great son in laws and love them both, but one likes to kid me about my grammar, he ask my daughter to please ask me to stop using double negatives in my sentences, so I now see what he was saying ,and realize he was right and at least realize I'm doing it. I seldom do it now.
Try something very basic, such as not ending sentences with prepositions (to, for, about, of, in, at and from.) Not this: "What part of the country is Bobby from?" But this: "From what part of the country is Bobby?" It sounds intentionally pretentious and stiff. The direction of the quality of our language is not what one would expect for a "more educated" society.