a/the + <place>

[Morecoffee]

Moderator note: this thread has been merged with an earlier thread. Please read the earlier comments above. Nat

Hello teachers.

Go to the gym is a very commen phrase.
But I don't understand why people say "the gym".
Let's say a friend of mine went to Japan. I talked to him on the phone.
Him: I got to go to the gym
But I'm not in Japan. I haven't seen his gym before. I don't know where the gym is. Gym to me in this context is just a concept, I think.
Then why do people use go to the gym all the time?

Thank you so much

 

[perpend]

We include "the":
go to the gym

"got to gym" is not idiomatic.

 

[dermott]

It's not a concept, it's a place. It takes the article in the same way that, for example, restaurant does. "I went to the restaurant". You wouldn't say, "I went to restaurant".

 

[Barque]

I think the OP's question is "Why is 'the' being used instead of 'a', when this gym is not one that my friend and I have spoken about before?"

Morecoffee, there are several threads on this topic. You need to look for existing threads first. Try entering "the vs. a" in the search box.

For example: a vs the