Zero article or the with place names - the basics

Some general principles and a few tables to help you with the use of zero article or the with place names.

Some general principles

• If a place name consists of an actual name, especially just one word, it usually takes no article:
  
  

  Europe, France, Normandy, Paris, Montmartre




• If a place name includes a unit of political organisation (republic, kingdom, states etc), it usually takes the:
  
  

  The United Kingdom, The Czech Republic, The United States




• If a place name includes a geographical or other descriptive feature (islands, sea, river etc), it usually takes the:
  
  

  The Baltic Sea, The River Seine, The Kalahari Desert




• This is also the case when this feature is only implied:
  
  

  The Phillipines (= The Phillipine Islands)
  The Himalayas (= the Himalaya Mountains)




• But this is not the case when the name consists of the singular word land:
  
  

  Scotland, New Zealand, Newfoundland, Poland




• If a place name includes of, it takes the definite article:
  
  

  The Straits of Gibraltar, The Bay of Biscay, The Isle of Man
  The Museum of Modern Art




• Note that we can often call places two ways, one without of and without the article, and one with of (usually more formal):
  
  

  Poland / The Republic of Poland, Edinburgh University / The University of Edinburgh, Capri / The Isle of Capri




• When the first word of a place name is an adjective (as with most seas), we usually use the:
  
  

  The Mediterranean (Sea), The Arabian Gulf (but there are exceptions, eg. Central Park)




• When a place name starts with a possessive, it usually takes no article:
  
  

  St Paul's Cathedral, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Hudson's Bay




• When a place name starts with the name of the place where it is situated, it doesn't usually take an article:
  
  

  Morecombe Bay, London Bridge




• Finally, note that there are lots of exceptions, and that some place names, especially buildings, schools are best learned individually.

Continents, countries, regions, cities etc.
	Zero article	The
Geographical areas	Latin America Central London Outer Mongolia	The Arctic, The Balkans The Middle East The West Indies The Lake District
Points of the compass	Northern England West London East Asia	The East of England The South Pole The West
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe N. America, S. America, Australia Antartica	(or) The Antarctic
Countries	Most countries, especially those with one word names France Colombia Countries ending in 'land' Scotland New Zealand French Polynesia	Names which include organisational elements - kingdom, republic etc The United Kingdom The USA The Czech Republic The Republic of the Congo Groups of islands The Phillipines The Seychelles A few others The Netherlands (1) The Gambia (2) (The) Sudan
Regions, provinces, states, counties etc	Most regions etc Patagonia, Normandy Alberta, Queensland Texas, California Yorkshire, Essex	Some exceptions The Algarve (3) The (Scottish) Borders
Cities, towns	Most cities and towns London, Paris, Berlin Buenos Aires, Havana	A few exceptions The Hague (4) The City of London (5)

Geographical features - seas, rivers, mountains etc
	Zero article	The
Oceans, seas, rivers		All oceans, seas and rivers The Atlantic (Ocean) The Mediterranean (Sea) The (River) Thames
Channels, straits, canals		Mostly take 'the' The English Channel The Straits of Magellan The Panama Canal
Bays, gulfs and capes	Preceded or followed by a noun - most bays and almost all capes Morecombe Bay Exmouth Gulf Cape Horn	With 'of' - almost all gulfs The Bay of Biscay The Gulf of Mexico The Cape of Good Hope With a national adjective The Persian Gulf The Arabian Gulf
Islands	Most single islands Tasmania Sardinia Easter Island sometimes there's a choice Skye Oronsay	With 'isle of' the Isle of Wight the Isle of Man the Isle of Skye the Isle of Oronsay Groups of islands The British Isles The Bahamas The Orkneys ***
Lakes	Most single lakes Lake Windermere Loch Ness	Groups of lakes The Great Lakes
Mountains and hills	Most single mountains (Mount) Everest Mont Blanc Ben Nevis Snowdon	A few exceptions The Jungfrau (6) the Matterhorn (7) Mountain and hill ranges The Alps The Dolomites The Rockies *** The Pennines ***
Deserts		All deserts The Sahara (Desert) The Gobi Desert
Forests	Simple names Sherwood Forest Kielder Forest	With 'of' and adjectives The Forest of Dean The New Forest

Streets, parks, buildings etc.
	Zero article	The
Streets etc	Most streets etc Oxford Street Park Avenue Kensington High Street Royal Crescent, Bath	A few exceptions The Strand (in London) (8) The Mall (in London) (9) the High Street (10)
Roads etc See note below	London Road	The London Road The Great North Road The North Circular (Road) (The) Newbury Bypass
Squares	Most squares, circuses etc Trafalgar Square Picadilly Circus Times Square Tiananmen Square	Sometimes when attached to something The Cathedral Square
Parks and gardens	Simple names Hyde Park Kensington Gardens	Descriptive The Botanical Gardens
National Parks - no apparent rules	Lake District National Park	The Peak District National Park
Palaces, castles etc	Most palaces and castles Buckingham Palace Windsor Castle	Some exceptions The White House The Elysée Palace
A note on street names in Britain As well as Street, Avenue and Road, you might see any of the following: Gardens, Park Terrace, Crescent, Circus, Place, Way, Lane Bank, Hill You might also see combinations: Park Gardens, Circus Gardens, Bank Lane The High Street The main street in a British town or London Borough is often simply called the High Street, or is preceded by the place name (without 'the'), eg. Kensington High Street. For this reason, the main chains of shops and banks that are found in main streets throughout the country are known as high street shops and high street banks (The) London Road The main road leading out of a town often has the name of the town or city that it (eventually) leads to, especially London. In some places, this is called, for example, London Road,in others The London Road.

Institutions
	Zero article	The
In general	Which one isn't important or is obvious She's gone to church Are you going to school? He's at university today They're at home I'm going to work The idea of the institution She wants to go to university He leaves school next year	A specific place The local parish church The neighbourhood school The new university She's in the house I'm going to the office
Cathedrals and churches	Most churches Canturbury Cathedral Westminster Abbey Lavenham Parish Church
Schools	Most schools Colyton Grammar School Winchester School Woodlands Junior School	Some exceptions The Rochester Grammar School The Folkestone School for Girls
Universities (UK) We can often refer to the same university in two different ways	With a simple name Edinburgh University	more formally with 'of' The University of Edinburgh
Universities (US) Universities have unique names, some with 'the', some without	Washington University in St Louis Michigan State University Princetown University	The University of Washington The University of Michigan The University of Pennsylvania
Hospitals	Guy's Hospital as a patient He's in hospital	The Royal Infirmary As a visitor or as a professional She's gone to the hospital to visit her aunt He works at the (or a) hospital

Places of entertainment
	Zero article	The
In general, as a place		We're going to the cinema They went to the theatre. We met at the opera
Theatres and opera houses	Names with possessives Sadler's Wells (Theatre) Her Majesty's (Theatre) Simple place names Glyndebourne (Theatre)	Most theatres etc The Aldwych (Theatre) The Colliseum (Theatre) The Theatre Royal
Note - Some famous theatres are known both by their place names, and by their official name	Covent Garden Stratford	= The Royal Opera House = The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Cinemas		The Odeon (cinema)
Concert Halls - vary	Carnegie Hall	The Albert Hall
Museums and galleries	Some exceptions Tate Modern	Most museums etc The Tate Gallery The Natural History Museum
Hotels		Most hotels The Ritz The Waldorf-Astoria (The) Gleneagles (Hotel)
Pubs and restaurants - vary	Scott's Bar	The Black Swan The Coach and Horses The Café Royal

Other
	Zero article	The
Stations	Most stations Euston Station Victoria Station
Airports	Most airports Heathrow Gatwick Schiphol Paris, Charles de Gaulle	A few exceptions
Bridges	Most London bridges London Bridge Putney Bridge Waterloo Bridge	Others (The) Golden Gate Bridge

Miscellaneous notes
	Zero article	The
Compare simple names with names with 'of', or with the type of organisation, which tend to be more official or formal	Simple names Poland Oxford University Versailles Guernsey Russia	All names with 'of' The Republic of Poland The University of Oxford The Palace of Versailles The Isle of Guernsey The Russian Federation
A few names only exist in the 'of' version or with 'republic' etc		The Isle of Man The City of London The Czech Republic The Dominican Republic
Notes 1. The Netherlands - literally means 'the low lands' 2. The Gambia - called after the River Gambia 3. The Algarve - from Arabic, meaning 'the West' 4. The Hague - from Dutch, meaning 'The Hedge' 5. The City of London - the old part of London, now the financial centre 6. The Jungfrau - German for 'the young woman' 7. The Matterhorn - German for 'Meadow peak' 8. The Strand - a street in London called after a small river 9. The Mall - a street in London. A mall is a sort of esplanade for walking along 10. The High Street - if there is no town name, it usually takes the
*** Some groups of islands, mountains and hills are often referred to with a shorter plural version of their name The Orkneys - The Orkney Islands The Rockies - The Rocky Mountains The Pennines - The Pennine Hills

Related posts

• The or zero article - Place names article quiz


• Indefinite articles - a or an?


• Random quizzes - articles - a few texts to test your skills at using articles

Links

I got a lot of information from these sources:

• BBC Learning English


• Suite 101


• Useful English

Tweet

Jangan sampai ketinggalan postingan-postingan terbaik dari OBAT KUAT ALAMI | 51B333E5. Berlangganan melalui email sekarang juga:

Atau sobat juga bisa follow OBAT KUAT ALAMI | 51B333E5 dengan mengklik tombol di bawah ini:

Artikel keren lainnya:

Ditulis oleh Blogsatu pada tanggal Jumat, 16 Agustus 2013