Özel Yer Adlarında The Kullanımı

Geographical places

Rivers

We use the before the names of rivers. We usually write the without a capital letter. If we use the word river, we usually write it without a capital letter: the river Thames, the river Severn, the Yangtze river.

We don’t always use the word river, especially when it is obvious that we are talking about a river: the Mississippi, the Nile, the Ganges, the Loire.

Deserts, oceans and seas

We usually use the before the names of deserts, oceans and seas. We often leave out the word desert, ocean or sea: the Sahara or the Sahara Desert, the Atlantic or the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean or the Mediterranean Sea.

Kaynak: cambridge.org

The general rule for “the” and proper nouns of location is as follows:

Use the word “the” before the name of a place if:

• The place name has two or more words.
• One of the words in a place name is a common noun.

So for instance, “states,” “river,” and “ocean” are all common nouns. So you would say the United States, the Nile River, and the Indian Ocean.

Now, there are some one-word names of places that appear to break that rule. This includes cities like the Hague and countries like the Netherlands (the country the Hague is in). It also includes places like the Bronx (a neighborhood in New York City), the Matterhorn (a mountain in Switzerland), and the Bahamas (a Caribbean nation).

With these kinds of exceptions, the place name originally had more than one word, but “lost” that word, as language use changed. Hundreds of years ago, the Hague was called “the Count’s Hedge,” a three-word name. And the Netherlands means “the Low Lands” (two words in the name) in Dutch. The Matterhorn means “the Meadow’s Horn” in German. The Bronx is shortened from “the Bronx River,” a river that runs through the Bronx neighborhood. And the Bahamas is short for “the Bahama Islands.”

Kaynak: magoosh.com

Öneri 1:

All the other answers cover the use of a definite vs. an indefinite article nicely, but omit one important caveat: an article, whether definite or indefinite, is never used before a proper noun (e.g., the name of a person).

• When the name is a geographic location and is part of the formal name: The United States, The United Kingdom, The Grand Canyon.
• In general, the inclusion of “the” before a name helps to specify a particular individual, group, or entity among others of the same type. It is used to make the reference more definite and singular.

Öneri 2:

In formal English, only if the name is preceded by a title which would ordinarily take the definite article, such as “The CEO of the company, Jane Doe.”

More informally, as another has commented, it can be used in front of a name to distinguish between two people of the same name, typically to emphasize someone well-known (at least to those in the conversation). Playing off the answer by Praveen Jha, I actually have a cousin named Bill Gates, so I could say, “My cousin is Bill Gates, but of course he is not the Bill Gates.” (When spoken in this fashion, heavy emphasis and stress are put on the word “the”.)

Öneri 3:

Some phenomenal answers on here already.

We can also use “the” before a surname in the plural to refer to a family.

E.g. I see the Hubbards at Number 41 have a hippo in their pond. I do hope it won’t eat the ducklings.

Kaynak: quora.com

Keywords:

• geographical names the usage
• usage of the in place names
• usage of the in private names