since I have lived in Boston

[navi]

1) I have been sleeping a lot better since I was in the hospital.

2) I have been sleeping a lot better since I have been in the hospital.

Do both sentences mean that I started sleeping a lot better when I was hospitalized?
Which imply that I am no longer in the hospital?

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3) I have been sleeping a lot better since I lived in Boston.

4) I have been sleeping a lot better since I have lived in Boston.

Do both sentences mean that I started sleeping a lot better when I started living in Boston?
Which imply that I no longer live in Boston?



Gratefully,
Navi

[Phil White]

Firstly, in a and b, you need to say "in hospital", not "in the hospital".

a implies that you have left hospital and started sleeping better after you left hospital or while you were in hospital. If you intend to say that you started sleeping better after you left hospital, that is probably how you would phrase it ("after I left hospital").
b implies that you started sleeping better in hospital and are still there.

The same applies to c and d, but it is difficult to construct a context in which c might work.

[Erik_Kowal]

'In the hospital' is the idiomatic usage in the USA for all situations in which a person might find themselves inside a hospital building.

[Phil White]

Thank you for the correction. "In hospital" is mandatory usage in the UK to express a stay in hospital as a patient.

[gdwdwrkr]

The American vernacular doesn't include "in hospital" in any case. Of course we'd understand what it means, but none of us would say or write it.

[Phil White]

I seem to remember having this one before, but it was only mentioned in passing once before.

For clarification as to UK usage:
"Harry is in hospital" (he is ill and is receiving treatment as an in-patient - i.e. with at least one overnight stay)
"Harry is at the hospital" (He is visiting somebody or having out-patient treatment and is expected to return without an overnight stay. Possibly he has been taken to hospital as an emergency and it is unclear whether he will stay - in this case, we could possibly use "in hospital" or "at the hospital", but I suspect it depends on whether we expect him to be admitted.)
"Harry is in the hospital" (this would be very rare and would mean that he is inside the building rather than outside - it might be used of, for instance a gunman: "the gunman is now believed to be in the hospital")