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| the | no article | |
|---|---|---|
| People's names | a whole family, a couple the Addams (= the Addams family) |
name, nickname William Shakespear, Bono, Kennedy |
| name with title Mrs Smith, Doctor Martin, Captain Cook, Queen Victoria |
||
| Cities and streets | two words and the first word is an adjective the Red Square |
cities, towns, streets, parks, squares etc. Cairo, Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Soho, Piccadilly Circus |
| Countries | name contains Republic, Kingdom the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic |
most the countries Denmark, India, Canada |
| plural name the United States, the Philippines, the Netherlands |
||
| Buildings |
many public buildings, museums, theatres etc. the Ritz, the British Museum, the Eiffel Tower |
two words and the first word is a name Buckingham Palace, Heathrow Airport |
| name contains "of" the Tower of London, the Bank of England |
||
| two words and the first word is an adjective the White House, the Royal Palace |
||
| Companies | many newspapers the Daily Telegraph, the Washington Post |
many brands Coca-Cola, Apple, BMW |
| named after a person, has 's or s at the end McDonald's, Barclays, Selfridges |
||
| Islands | group of islands the Canary Islands, the Faroe Islands |
an island Madagascar, Greenland |
| Mountains | mountain ranges the Andes, the Alps |
a mountain Mount Everest, Mount Fuji |
| Water | oceans, seas, rivers, canals, bays etc. the Pacific Ocean, the Red Sea, the Rhine, the English Channel |
lakes Lake Geneva, Lake Michigan |
| Land | deserts the Sahara Desert |
continents Africa, North America, Asia |
Pay attention
To make it easier to learn, memorize three rules when we should put "the":
1) the name is plural
2) the name contains "of"
3) the name begins with an adjective (red, white, royal etc.)
How can we explain "the" before adjectives in proper names? If we don't put "the" in the white house, it becomes any white house and not the official residence of the US President.
Example
The President has left the White House.
I can see a white house on the top of the hill.
These are only some basic rules that we can apply to proper names. However, they don't cover everything. There are exceptions and specific cases. It is always better to look up a proper name if you are not sure about the article, especially if it's a company, a make, a magazine, or a shop.