Proper Nouns with THE
We normally use "the" for country names that include “States”,
“Kingdom”, “Republic” etc:
| States |
the United States of America/the USA |
| Kingdom |
the United Kingdom/the UK |
| Republic |
the French Republic |
We normally use “the” for names of canals, rivers, seas and
oceans:
| canals |
the Suez Canal |
| rivers |
the River Nile, the Nile |
| seas |
the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean |
| oceans |
the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific |
We normally use “the” for plural names of people and
places:
| people (families, for example) |
the Clintons |
| countries |
the Philippines, the United States |
| island groups |
the Virgin Islands, the British Isles |
| mountain ranges |
the Himalayas, the Alps |
Look at these sentences:
- I saw the Clintons today. It was Bill’s birthday.
- Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
- Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
We normally use “the” with the following sorts of names:
| hotels, restaurants |
the Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant |
| banks |
the National Westminster Bank |
| cinemas, theatres |
the Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema |
| museums |
the British Museum, the National Gallery |
| buildings |
the White House, the Crystal Palace |
| newspapers |
the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post |
| organisations |
the United Nations, the BBC, the European Union |
We normally use “the” for names made with
“…of…”:
- the Tower of London
- the Gulf of Siam
- the Tropic of Cancer
- the London School of Economics
- the Bank of France
- the Statue of Liberty
Now check your understanding >> |
