Meaning & use
airlifted to hospital
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Carried by helicopter or plane to a hospital for urgent medical treatment.
Grammar: Used after a form of 'be' or 'was': 'He was airlifted to hospital.' The passive is normal because the patient does not fly the aircraft.
Patterns
- be airlifted to hospital
- airlift someone to hospital
Two climbers were airlifted to hospital after the accident.
The injured driver was airlifted to hospital by rescue helicopter.
She was airlifted to hospital with serious burns.
Common combinations
- was airlifted to hospital
- The boy was airlifted to hospital after falling from a tree.
- airlifted to hospital by helicopter
- The hiker was airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
- airlifted to hospital with injuries
- Three people were airlifted to hospital with leg injuries.
- airlift someone to hospital
- Rescue teams airlifted the crew to hospital.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flown to hospital
- More general; it can mean a normal flight, not necessarily an emergency rescue.
- taken to hospital
- Neutral and much more common; it does not say how the person traveled.
Word family
Commonly confused: airlifted to hospital or airlifted to the hospital?
airlifted to hospital vs airlifted to the hospital
The American version of the same phrase; British news usually drops 'the' before 'hospital'.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses the phrase correctly.
Choose one answer.
The phrase is passive: a patient 'is airlifted to hospital' by someone else. Option A wrongly makes the patient the pilot, C confuses people with supplies, and D reverses the direction of the action.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “airlifted to hospital”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.