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Why must we add an 's? Why "she is at the dentist's now" instead of "at the dentist"?

dr_yand
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4 Answers4

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We don't have to. It's equally correct to say

She is at the dentist now.

(you can interpret "the dentist" as a synecdoche in which the person stands in for the place) or

She is at the dentist's now.

(an elliptical way of saying "She is at the dentist's office now*).

Which you choose probably depends on what you hear more.

Robusto
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    Agreed, but is it really grammatically correct to say "at the dentist"? It wouldn't be correct to say "he is at John", would it? –  Jan 19 '15 at 12:36
  • @PbxMan I don't know what grammatical rules might apply, but the fact is people do say 'at the dentist'. People make the language, not the other way around. And you would definitely say 'He is at John's.' – Mynamite Jan 19 '15 at 13:05
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    @Mynamite Agreed. What if you were writing a book? In that case you would try to have the best grammar as possible. English is my second language, I believe that people whose first language is English also make plenty of mistakes. Nevertheless I've never heard anything like "He's at the greengrocer". –  Jan 19 '15 at 13:13
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    -1 "Dentist" is a place? – Kris Jan 19 '15 at 13:19
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    Thanks, Kris. It just wouldn't be the same without a down vote from you. – Robusto Jan 19 '15 at 13:27
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    @PbxMan 'At the greengrocer' is fine. In novels you are free to be as creative as the story requires - if that is how people speak, then that is what your characters would say. It's hard to think of a similar instance where you would use 'at the' (with either dentist or dentist's) in formal text. So there's something about the familiarity of it in spoken English which allows the listener to understand. – Mynamite Jan 19 '15 at 13:30
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    At the doctor's / At the chemist's / At the dentist's / At the butcher's / At the ironmonger's / At the greengrocer's / At the fishmonger's are all standard forms in British English. I think there is something of a UK/US divide here, with the " 's " variant being less prevalent in the USA (not least because the proliferation of supermarket chains has all but killed off specialist food retailers in many of its towns and cities). – Erik Kowal Jan 19 '15 at 13:44
  • @ErikKowal As a matter of interest, would you say "She's at Walmart" or "She's at Walmart's"? – Mynamite Jan 19 '15 at 13:50
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    @pbxMan: I think you can interpret "the dentist" as a synecdoche in which the person stands in for the place. – Robusto Jan 19 '15 at 13:52
  • @Mynamite - I would definitely say "She's at Walmart". Even in Britain, one would not say "She is at + ". That form is reserved for the generic descriptor (except if that descriptor includes the word store or shop). – Erik Kowal Jan 19 '15 at 14:02
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    @ErikKowal That's not quite true, I have heard "She's at Tesco's/Aldi's/Mark's and Spencer's" - in fact Tesco is so often pluralised that I had to google it to make sure what it really was. You will even hear "Tescos have suffered a fall in profits this year." – Mynamite Jan 19 '15 at 14:11
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    @Mynamite - OK, I'll give you that (when I think about it, I have actually said "I'm going to Tesco's" myself). However, I do think people would only use that form with certain store names — but I'm damned if I can pinpoint what characteristic(s) favour it being used with some store names and not with others. – Erik Kowal Jan 19 '15 at 14:16
  • At least no-one says "Going to Sainsbury's's". – Steve Jessop Jan 20 '15 at 14:05
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Adding the 's to make "dentist's" indicates the place owned by the dentist - in this case the dentist's surgery.

It is common to say that you are "at" a place - e.g. at the office or at the railway station. So "at the dentist's" is correct.

It is not common to say that you are "at" a person. "She is with the dentist now" would sound better.

Simon B
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    This is particularly common in areas where the Doctor's surgery or Dentist's Office are literally owned by the Doctor/Dentist - ie in the UK, Doctors usually (as a group) own the practice they work for. – Jon Story Jan 19 '15 at 14:00
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While most people would recognize "at the dentist" as not quite correct, it is used quite often simply because it is easier (and neater) to say. "Dentist's" can get juicy, especially if you spend a lot of time at the dentist's getting bridgework on your front teeth. Americans are really conscious of spitting when they talk.(US)

Oldbag
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Grammatically, "dentist" is being used as a placename here, referring to the office itself. That trailing "'s" was phased out of day to day usage in many places, many years ago. Specifying "dentist's" in some regions of the United States would sound, or be considered, overly fussy or exact. Probably not enough that someone would mention it to you, but enough that it would impart a tone to your conversations. This is a natural process of language becoming more efficient, as words take on contextual meanings.

Saxo Grammaticus
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