The use of articles with proper nouns

Geographical names

No article

The definite article

Notes

1. Continents, countries, cities/towns, villages

Africa, Asia, France, London, Latin America, Central Asia, Petrovka

But

the village of Petrovka

When having a particularizing attribute

– The Philadelphia he was born in...

– In his books W. Scott described the England of the Middle Ages.

the word groups are always used with the:

The United States, The Soviet Union, The United Kingdom of Great Britain, the Hague, (the) Ukraine, the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Riviera, the Transvaal, the Lebanon, the Congo

2. Ocean, rivers, seas, Channels / canals, deserts, valleys

Hudson Bay, Buffin Bay, Death Valley, Silicon Valley

the Pacific, the Black Sea, the Neva, the Sahara, the (English) Channel, the Suez Canal, the Nile Valley, the Valley of the Kings

3. Lakes

Lake Baikal, Lake Ontario

the Baikal, the Ontario, the Great Lake, the Great Bear Lake, the Great Salt Lake

In the plural – The Great Lakes

4. Mountains, volcanoes

peaks

Elbrus, Everest

mountain chains

the Urals, the Alps, the Kilauea Volcano

5. Islands, peninsulas, capes

a single island

Madagascar, Sicily, Kamchatka, Cape Horn, North Cape, Cape Canaveral,

island groups

the Bermudas, the British Isles, the Bahamas, the Balkan Peninsula, the Cape of Good Hope

6. Regions

North America, Latin America

the Middle East, the Far East, the north of England, the south of France, the Virgin Lands, the Yorkshire Forests

western Canada, southern Spain

7. Four cardinal points of the compass

the South, the North, the East, the West

But

from East to West, from North to South

go to South!

Names of persons

No article

The definite article

The indefinite article

1. Names of persons

a) as a rule no article is used

– There was a letter from Susan inviting me to a party.

b) modified be attributes old, young, little, dear, poor, honest, lazy, simple, lucky

– Young Jolyon was standing by the piano.

– She is a widow of poor George.

a) with a name in the plural to indicate the whole family:

– He is very different from the rest of the Kents.

b) with the name modified by a particularizing attribute:

– Is he the Sheldon who is a write?

– She was no more the Julia of the first years of their marriage.

With a name modified by a descriptive attribute when a) the limitation is clear from the context or situation:

– He caught the paralyzed Madeleine in his arms as the door flew open again.

b) the attribute indicate s a permanent quality of the person in question:

– He slapped him on the shoulder, which startled & slightly annoyed the prim George Augustus.

a) one member of a family:

– I have often wondered if Tim was really a Burton.

b) when names of persons indicate typical features of a well-known name: She felt like an Alice in Wonderland.

c) when nothing is known about the person except their name, and with names of persons modified by the adjective “certain”:

– I heard it from a (certain) Mr. Jagger.

2. Nouns of relationship

a) followed by a proper name:

Uncle Jolyon, Aunt Polly

b) not followed by a proper name and used only by the members of the family:

She went into the hall: “Is Mother back?”

a) if other people’s relations are meant:

– The son was as clever as the father.

b) the expressions:

– Lomonosov was the son of a fisherman.

– Becky was the daughter of an artist.

3. Nouns denoting ranks, titles, profession followed by a proper name

academician Brown, professor Burton, count Brown

Nouns denoting profession & occupation followed by a proper name:

– The painter Warhol left many fine pictures.

– The shoemaker Brown is very old.

A foreign title followed by a proper name

The Baron Munchausen, the Emperor Napoleon III, the Tsar peter the Great