I have run across such a sentence:
Yesterday I was ill, so I went to the doctor's.
What is the function of possessive here, that is doctor's?
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Usually, it's "I went to a doctor" or "I visited a doctor" – SovereignSun May 31 '17 at 13:35
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4I would say it's short for "the doctor's office." – Hellion May 31 '17 at 13:36
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@ SovereignSun "a doctor" is fine if you mean any doctor, but use of the definite article "the" would be more common here, since the reference is probably to a specific doctor. – Vekzhivi May 31 '17 at 15:14
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@Vekzhivi Yeh, you are right. – SovereignSun May 31 '17 at 15:38
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see https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/73638/3463 – Man_From_India May 31 '17 at 15:42
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This type of possessive is commonly used to refer to a particular shop, or something similar to a shop like a doctor's surgery or a dental clinic. The pattern being used is: [somebody's] [place] (e.g. butcher's shop) and the unnecessary [place] is often left off for brevity. You will often hear the following used:
I'm going to the:
- doctor's (doctor's surgery)
- dentist's (dental clinic)
- butcher's (butcher's shop)
- baker's (bakery)
- (green)grocer's (grocer's shop)
- barber's (barber's shop)
- hairdresser's (hairdressing salon)
SteveES
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@Catija Thanks, I wasn't sure whether it was a British thing, I'll remove BrE from my answer. – SteveES May 31 '17 at 15:12