A place being unique does not guarantee the. English place names follow naming conventions: Paris and the Danube identify locations but take different article patterns.
The idea
Most city, country and continent names have no article. Rivers, seas, oceans, deserts and mountain ranges normally take the. Names beginning with Lake or Mount usually have no article: Lake Geneva, Mount Fuji.
Examples
- Our train leaves Paris at dawn.
- My cousin lives in the Netherlands.
- We walked beside the Danube.
- They sailed across the Mediterranean.
- We spent a week in the Alps.
- This book has chapters on Lake Geneva and Mount Fuji.
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Watch out
Learn exceptions as complete names: the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States. Many individual peaks have no article, but some do, such as the Matterhorn. Do not assume every mountain follows the same pattern.
Try it yourself
Choose the correct option. Our train leaves ___ at dawn. (Paris / the Paris)
Show answer or example answer
Paris
The city name Paris normally has no article in a sentence identifying the place.
Choose the correct option. My cousin lives in ___. (Netherlands / the Netherlands)
Show answer or example answer
the Netherlands
The established country name is the Netherlands, so the stays after in.
Choose the correct option. We walked beside ___. (Danube / the Danube)
Show answer or example answer
the Danube
River names normally take the. The preposition beside does not remove that article.
Practice round
Answer questions and rebuild English sentences to practise. Your score is shown.
Choose the correct option. Our train leaves ___ at dawn. (Paris / the Paris)
Choose the correct option. My cousin lives in ___. (Netherlands / the Netherlands)
Choose the correct option. We walked beside ___. (Danube / the Danube)
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Plan a fictional journey through a city, along a river and into a mountain range. Include a lake or a peak, and check each complete English name in a reliable atlas or dictionary.