Place names - the or zero article?

Exercise 1 - If necessary, add The before the place name.

Europe and Britain

The or zero article?

Exercise 2 - If necessary, add The before the place name.

Streets, Buildings etc

The or zero article?

Exercise 3 - If necessary, add The before the place name.

Some general principles

• If a place name consists of a real name, especially just one word, it usually takes no article:
  Europe, France, Normandy, Paris, Montmartre
• If a place name includes a unit of organisation (republic, kingdom, states etc), a geographical or other descriptive feature (islands, sea, river etc), it usually takes the:
  The United Kingdom, 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 includes 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 name 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 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 there are lots of exceptions, and that some place names, especially buildings, schools, etc are best learned individually.

Some exceptions to the general rules

• The Netherlands - this name is descriptive; it means The Low Lands
• The Gambia - takes its name from the Gambia River
• (The) Yemen, (The) Sudan - the names of these countries are occasionally used with the. In older texts you might see Argentina referred to as The Argentine, but this practice has largely died out.
• The Hague - from the Dutch Den Haag (= The Hedge)
• The Matterhorn (= The Meadow Peak), The Jungfrau (= The Young Woman) - these names of mountains are descriptive in the original German
• The Strand (a street in London) - called after a small river
• The Mall (a road in London) - a mall (here) is like an esplanade, a long open space where people can walk