The definite article the with geographical names Contents

The definite article ’the’ with geographical names

Contents • Oceans, seas, rivers, lakes • Mountains • Deserts, islands • Cities, countries, continents • Buildings, monuments, cathedrals • Facilities in a city or town, roads, streets • Fixed expressions • Nationalities, languages, countries, regions • Exercises

Geographical places: oceans, seas, channels and gulfs We usually use the before the names of oceans and seas, channels, bays and gulfs. We often leave out the word ocean or sea: • the Atlantic or the Atlantic Ocean, • the Mediterranean or the Mediterranean Sea • the Gulf of Mexico, the English Channel When we are referring to general features of a country or its landscape, we use ’the’: the sea, the countryside, the city, the coast.

Geographical places: rivers We use the before the names of rivers. If we use the word river, we usually write it without a capital letter: • the river Thames, the river Dnipro We don’t always use the word river, especially when it is obvious that we are talking about a river: the Mississippi, the Nile, the Loire, the Danube.

Geographical places: mountains We use ’the’ with the names of mountain ranges: • the Alps, the Carpathians, the Himalayas We do not use ’the’ if the name includes Mount or Mountain: • Mount Olympus. We often refer to some mountains just by their name without the: • Everest, Kilimanjaro, Hoverla

Geographical places: deserts, islands We usually use the before the names of deserts. We often leave out the word desert: • the Sahara or the Sahara Desert We usually use the before the names of groups of islands: • the Bahamas, the Florida Keys, the Canaries

Geographical places: lakes We don’t usually use ’the’ with the names of lakes. We often use the word Lake before the name: • Lake Michigan, Lake Geneva, Lake Synievir.

Cities, countries and continents We don’t use the with the names of cities, countries or continents: • Paris, Tokyo, France, Peru, Africa, Asia A small number of country names include ’the’: • The United Kingdom, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, the Vatican

Buildings, monuments, cathedrals We use ’the’ with some names of buildings: • the Taj Mahal, the Alhambra, the Houses of Parliament, the Pentagon, the Tower of London but no ‘the’ with other names of buildings: • Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, St Paul’s Cathedral, Chichen Itza

Roads, streets We use the with the names of major roads in a country: • the M 6, the A 40 but no ‘the’ with the names of areas, squares, streets and roads in a town or city: • Broadway, Covent Garden, Times Square, Princes Street

Facilities in a town or city We usually use ’the’ with the names of hotels, cinemas, museums and art galleries: • the Marriott, the Louvre, the National Gallery. With buildings or institutions that don’t include the name of a town or city, we use ’the’: • the airport, the University Press, When the name of the town or city is included wo do not use ‘the’: • Gatwick Airport, Cambridge University Press. There are some exceptions: • Have you been on the London Eye? - We’ve been on the Eye at least ten times. • We saw ‘Mamma Mia’ at the Operetta. (the name of a theatre) • Have you been to the CDS (the name of the trading centre) since they renovated it?

Places: fixed expressions There a lot of common fixed expressions relating to places. We do not normally use ’the’ with these expressions. • to town: I’m going to town this afternoon. • in town: She works in town. • at school/university: They met at university. • from school/university: What time do they get home from school? • in hospital: Linda’s been in hospital since Friday. • in prison: Her husband is in prison, and life is very difficult for her.

Nationalities, languages, countries and regions • the name of the country or region: Turkey, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Asia • a singular noun that we use for a person from the country or region: a Turk, a Japanese, a German, a Brazilian, an Asian • the plural expression the … used for the whole population of a country or region: the Turks, the Japanese, the Germans, the Brazilians, the Asians • an adjective: Turkish, Japanese, German, Brazilian, Asian The name of a national language is commonly the same as the national adjective. In this case, the words are nouns and may be modified by adjectives. We don’t use the or the word language: • Do you speak Chinese? Not: Do you speak the Chinese? or Do you speak Chinese language? • Russian is difficult to learn, isn’t it, especially the alphabet? • She speaks fluent French. We use a capital letter when we refer to a nationality, a language, a country and a region: • They have studied American literature.

Country/region Adjective Person (noun) People (plural noun) Australian an Australian the Australians America/the USA American an American the Americans Belgium Belgian a Belgian the Belgians Brazilian a Brazilian the Brazilians European a European the Europeans Italy Italian an Italian the Italians Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian the Hungarians Norway Norwegian a Norwegian the Norwegians

Country/region Adjective Person (noun) People (plural noun) Greece Greek a Greek the Greeks Iraqi an Iraqi the Iraqis Israeli an Israeli the Israelis Thailand Thai a Thai the Thais China Chinese the Chinese Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese the Portuguese Russian a Russian the Russians Slovakia Slovaks a Slovak the Slovaks Switzerland Swiss a Swiss the Swiss

Country/region Adjective Person (noun) People (plural noun) Britain British a British man/woman the British England English an Englishman/woman the English France French a Frenchman/woman the French Ireland Irish an Irishman/woman the Irish Spain Spanish a Spaniard the Spanish The Netherlands/ Dutch a Dutchman/woman the Dutch Wales Welsh a Welshman/woman the Welsh Denmark Danish a Dane the Danes Finland Finnish a Finn the Finns Poland Polish a Pole the Poles Sweden Swedish a Swede the Swedes Turkey Turkish a Turk the Turks

Complete the rules with appropriate words • We use ‘the‘ with _______ (the Alps), ____ (the West Indies), ______ (the Danube), ______ (the Gobi ____), _____ (the Black Sea), _____ (the Amazon rainforest), ____ (the M 42), the names of some ______ (the People’s Republic of China). • We don’t usually use articles with individual _______ (Mount Fuji) or ______ (Lake Victoria). We don’t use articles with ______ (Asia), ______ (Romania), ______ (Edinburgh), and _____ (Cherry Lane).

Check your answers • We use ‘the‘ with mountain ranges (the Alps), groups of islands (the West Indies), rivers (the Danube), deserts (the Gobi Desert), seas (the Black Sea), geographical regions or habitats (the Amazon rainforest), motorways (the M 42), the names of some countries (the People’s Republic of China). • We don’t usually use articles with individual mountains Mount Fuji or lakes Lake Victoria. We don’t use articles with continents (Asia), countries (Romania), towns (Edinburgh), and streets (Cherry Lane).