Place names and THE / Nazivi mjesta i THE

Using articles is one of the most challenging aspects of the English language to a non-native speaker. Right this moment you may be wondering in frustration why we say the Adriatic Sea but Lake Jarun? Or London but the Hague?

Most place names are without the. Whether a place name has the depends on the kind of a place it is (a sea, lake, theatre, museum, park etc.) and its grammatical pattern, i.e. we use the if the name is an of-phrase (the City of New York, but New York City); if it contains an adjective (the International School); or if it is in the plural (the Botanical Gardens). We do not use the before a possessive (Regent’s Park), but there are always exceptions (Beverly Hills, Brussels).

Remember not to use the with names of cities, towns, suburbs and villages. Your hotel, therefore, was in Kingswood, a suburb of Bristol. Roads, streets and parks are without the. So, your HQ might be in Wall Street; or you like to spend your Sundays in Central Park. You might be buying a flat on Madison Avenue, or walking along Broadway surrounded by paparazzi. However, by-passes and motorways have the (the York by-pass, the M25), as well as some roads with adjectives or numbers in their names (the High Street, the Great West Road, the A1).

Names of transport facilities, religious, educational and official buildings, palaces and houses are without the. So you could ask a taxi driver to take you to Paddington Station or meet a friend at Heathrow (Airport); you could graduate from Cambridge (University) or get married in St Paul’s (Cathedral). How about visiting Buckingham Palace while in London, or spending an evening in Norwich Museum? However, the should be used if you are getting married in the Chapel of Our Lady (it is an of-phrase) or if you graduated from the Open University (the name has an adjective), or if you are planning to take your sweetheart to the Science Museum.

Most names of shops and restaurants are without the. So, you could bump into an old friend just outside Boots, and then take him to lunch at Matilda’s (notice the possessive form). Exceptions are names of shops and restaurants without the name of a person: the Kitchen Shop, the Bombay Restaurant. Pub names have the: How about a pint at the Movie Pub?

Names of theatres, cinemas, hotels and galleries have the: So, you might be taking your girlfriend out to the Europa (Cinema) or she might be taking you to see a play at the Gavella (Theatre). Imagine looking at the Hollywood Bowl from your window at the Hilton (Hotel)! Possessive forms are an exception: in Her Majesty’s Theatre; at Bertram’s Hotel.

1. Would you use these names with the or without it? Put THE or -.

2. Leaning Tower of Pisa

3. United Nations

4. Sesame Street

5. Parthenon

6. Eton College

7. O’Hare International Airport

8. Guggenheim

9. Museum of Modern Art

10. How about these Croatian place names? The or no the?

11. Arts and Crafts Museum

12. St Catherine Square

13. Tuškanac Cinema Hall

14. Bakačeva Street

15. A short general knowledge quiz: Decide whether these place names take THE and then use them to answer the questions below as in the example:

a) at – Ban Jelacic Square; b) World Trade Center; c) Regent Street; d) Eiffel Tower; e) Buckingham Palace; f) Empire State Building; g) Oxford Street; h) Louvre; i) Colosseum; j) Taj Mahal; k) New York City