Welcome to your THE with Names 2 lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• “The” with Place Names
• “The” with Building Names
• “The” with Named Places
• “The” with Companies
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
“The” with Place Names
We do not normally use the with names of important buildings (universities / airports / stations) when there are two word in the name:
| Oxford University | Victoria Station | Bournemouth Airport |
| Kingston University | Waterloo Station | Orly Airport |
These two words are made of the name of a place (Waterloo) followed by the type of place (Station). However, if the first word is an adjective, we do use the:
“We’re going to Buckingham Palace.” ↔ “We’re going to the Royal Palace.”
We also do not normally use the with names of roads / squares / parks etc.:
| High Street | Kings Road | Times Square | Hyde Park |
| Central Park | Priests Road | Broadway | Third Avenue |
“The” with Building Names
The majority of other buildings use the:
| cinemas / theatres: | The Rex Cinema, The Globe Theatre |
| hotels / restaurants: | The Ritz Hotel, The Metropolitan Grill |
| museums / galleries: | The British Museum, The Tate Gallery |
| other buildings: | The Eiffel Tower, The Empire State Building |
Most of the time, we leave out the noun:
“I went to the Globe yesterday.”
(Globe Theatre)“Lets go to the Tate!”
(The Tate Gallery)“He works in the Empire State.”
(The Empire State Building)
Some names, however, are only the + noun (the Kremlin, the Acropolis, the Pentagon).
Names that use of usually have the:
“He works at the Bank of England.”
“Tomorrow we’re going to the Museum of Modern Art.”
“That’s the Tower of London.”
“He goes to the University of Los Angeles.”
but
“He goes to Los Angeles University.”
“The” with Named Places
Sometimes places are named after the people who designed, built or owned them. In these cases we use ‘s or s. In these cases, we do not use the:
“He works at Lloyds Bank.”
“Let’s go to Macy’s later.”
“She goes to St. Paul’s Church.”
“The” with Companies
Most newspapers and the majority of companies use the:
| newspapers: | the Sun, the Mirror, the Guardian |
| organisations: | the EU, the BBC, the Red Cross |
Names of airlines or companies normally do not use the:
| airlines: | British Airways, United Airlines, Brussels Airlines |
| companies: | Sony, Apple, Renault, Nikon |
