Unit 10 The Use of Articles with Miscellaneous Proper Names

This group of proper names includes names of various places, objects and notions.

Names of buildings and institutions

The following names typically have the definite article (although on maps the definite article is usually not shown):

• Names of theatres (a), concert halls (d), cinemas (e), clubs(f)

a) the Coliseum Theatre, the Opera House, the Globe;

d) the Festival Hall, the Albert Hall, the Carnegie Hall;

e) the Empire, the Dominion, the Odeon;

f) the National Liberal Club, the Rotary Club.

Note that the definite article may distinguish a theatre from the street it is in: the Whitehall (a theatre), Whitehall (a street)

• Names of hotels, restaurants, pubs, bridges and buildings: the Ritz, the Hilton, the Copper Kettle, the Royal Oak, the Ambassador Hotel, the Continental Hotel the Golden Gate, the Social Science Building.

But many restaurants, pubs, shops, banks are named after the people who started them. These names end in –s’ or –s. Don’t use “the” with these names: McDonalds, Harrods, Lloyds Bank.

• Names of museums, picture galleries: the National Gallery, the Louvre, the British Museum, the Scottish National Museum etc.

But in newspaper announcements and advertisements the article is usually not found with these nouns.

The following names typically have no article

• Many names are two words. If the first word is the name of a person or a place usually “the” is not used with names like this: Victoria Station, Edinburgh Castle.

But the White House, the Royal Palace, because ‘white’ and ‘royal’ are not names of place or people.

• Names of universities, col­leges and schools: London University, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Trinity College, Manchester Grammar School

Note. The definite article is used with expressions including “of”: the University of London, the University of Moscow.

• Names of airports and railway stations: London Airport, Heathrow, Victoria Station.

But the definite article may still be found in this case too.

• Names of hospitals: Hillsdale Hospital.

• Names of churches, cathedrals and abbeys: St Peter’s, Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey.

But with abbeys named after religious orders, and with those followed by “of”, there is a definite article: the Dominican Abbey, the Abbey of Cluny.

Note. When you refer back to a particular building, you can use the definite article in front of the word for the building, which keeps its capital letter.

And so round to the north side of the Cathedral.

Names of streets, roads, squares and parks

• Names of streets (a), roads (b), parks (c), squares (d), stadiums and malls (e) tend to be used without any article:

a) Oxford Street, Southampton Row, Pall Mall, Piccadilly, Fleet Street, Whitehall, Wall Street.

But names of some streets are traditionally used with the definite article, e.g. the Strand, the High Street, the Mall and some others.

Note. Names of streets in foreign countries are sometimes used with the definite article, e.g. the Rue de Rivoli (in Paris), the Via Manzoni (in Milan).

b) Charing Cross Road, Park Lane, Broadway, Pennsylvania Avenue.

Certain roads can have the definite article or no article: (the) Edgware Road, (the) Old Kent Road.

Highways and motorways tend to have definite article: the A1, the M1, the New Jersey Turnpike.

c) Hyde Park, Central Park, Memorial Park, Regent's Park.

But: the Snowdonia National Park, the Botanical Gardens.

Note. Names of parks in foreign countries are often used with the definite article: the Gorki Park (in Moscow), the Tiergarten (in Berlin).

d) Trafalgar Square, Russel Square, Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square.

Note 1 Names of squares in foreign countries may have the definite article: the Red Square (in Moscow).

Note 2 When streets names are parts of addresses, the definite article sometimes can and sometimes must be left out: “24 (the) High Street”, “104 Edgware Road”. The definite article is not used in streets signs.

e) Wambley Stadium, Fiesta Mall.

Names of zoos, gardens are used with the definite article: the San Diego Zoo, the Desert Botanical Gardens.