Travaille

1.Elle travaille dans une banque.
She works at a bank,

2.Elle travaille à l'hôpital.
She works at the hospital.

I know my first sentence is fine.
I found the second sentence in an online dictionary.
Is it fine to say 'travaille à' ?
I am not sure.

0 members like this

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Frank on October 4, 2009 at 12:39pm

Hi Crack,

Yes, "elle travaille à l'hôpital" is fine. "Elle travaille dans un hôpital" would be fine as well.

Permalink Reply by Crack1 on October 4, 2009 at 4:32pm

Frank
The following crossed my mind as you approved both sentences

3.She works at a bank.
4.She work in a bank.
Generally both of the above are accepted.
So in French has the same pattern.

However, a native English teacher (Englishman) taught me that he would write the 4th sentence.
His argument was the preposition 'at' in this context points to a place.

In other words the place where she works is a bank.
I am not interested in knowing the place she works.
I am interested in knowing the way she makes a living.

I met Frank at the airport. [ The spot or the place I met Frank is the airport.]
I met Frank in Paris. [ Paris is a huge geographical area. Not a spot. We write 'in'.]

Permalink Reply by Frank on October 5, 2009 at 10:45pm

"J'ai rencontré Frank à l'aéroport" and "J'ai rencontré Frank dans l'aéroport" are both perfectly correct.
"J'ai rencontré Frank à Paris" and "J'ai rencontré Frank dans Paris" are also both perfectly correct.

Really, you will hear both.

Depending on the noun, we tend to rather opt for "dans" or "à".

For instance "Elle travaille à la poste" is probably more common than "Elle travaille dans une poste". But "Elle travaille dans une banque" is maybe more common than "Elle travaille à la banque". The former rather makes you think about a specific company or position, while the later rather makes you think about a place. But the meaning is roughly the same.