Unit 78: Names with and without the 2

Streets, parks and two-word names such as Cardiff Castle take no the, while most hotels, theatres, museums, names with of, newspapers and organisations do. Shops and companies named after people usually take no the.

Go to the exercises

A Streets, parks and two-word names: no the

We do not use the with the names of most streets, roads, squares and parks: Queen Street (not the Queen Street), Ecclesall Road, George Square, Roundhay Park.

Many public buildings and institutions, such as airports, stations, universities and castles, have two-word names. The first word is the name of a place or a person, and these names usually take no the:

Leeds Bradford Airport, Waverley Station, Durham Cathedral, Cardiff Castle, Kensington Palace, Keele University.

Compare: Kensington Palace (no the) but the Royal Palace. Royal is an adjective, not a name like Kensington.

Our office is in Queen Street, above the bakery.
We had a picnic in Roundhay Park.
The train from Waverley Station was forty minutes late, which surprised nobody.
Have you ever been round Cardiff Castle?

B Most other buildings: the

Most other buildings have names with the:

Type	Examples
hotels	the Grand Hotel, the Ritz
theatres and cinemas	the Crucible (Theatre), the Electric (Cinema)
museums and galleries	the Natural History Museum, the Tate
other buildings	the Shard, the Taj Mahal, the Angel of the North

We often leave out the noun: the Grand (Hotel), the Crucible (Theatre).

Some names are only the + noun: the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Louvre.

We're staying at the Grand in Scarborough.
The snooker is on at the Crucible this week.
Have you been up the Shard?

C Names with of: the

Names containing of usually take the: the Houses of Parliament, the Museum of Liverpool, the Statue of Liberty, the Palace of Westminster.

Note the difference: the University of Leeds but Leeds University (no the).

The Houses of Parliament are being repaired, and have been for some time.
My brother studied at the University of Leeds.
My brother studied at Leeds University.

D Shops and churches named after people: no the

Many shops, restaurants and businesses are named after the people who started them. These names end in -'s or -s, and we do not use the: Sainsbury's (not the Sainsbury's), Greggs, Nando's, Harry Ramsden's.

Churches are often named after saints (St = Saint), and these take no the either: St Mary's Church, St David's Cathedral.

I'll meet you outside Sainsbury's at ten.
We had fish and chips at Harry Ramsden's.
The wedding is at St Mary's Church.

E Newspapers and organisations: the. Companies: no the

Most newspapers and many organisations have names with the: the Guardian, the Yorkshire Post, the Times, the NHS, the United Nations, the RSPCA.

The names of companies, airlines and so on are usually without the: Toyota (not the Toyota), Samsung, Ryanair, Penguin Books.

My grandad reads the Yorkshire Post from cover to cover.
She's been a nurse with the NHS for twenty years.
Ryanair have cancelled our flight.
He works for Toyota in Derby.

Exercises

78.1 A visitor asks you about places on a town map. Write the name of the place and the street it is in. Use the if necessary. Remember that maps do not normally print the.

The map shows a cinema called Regal in Church Lane.
Is there a cinema near here? Yes, the Regal in Church Lane.
Is there a cinema near here? Yes, the Regal in Church Lane.
The map shows a supermarket called Hartley's in Bridge Street.
Is there a supermarket near here? Yes, in .
The map shows a hotel called Station Hotel in Albert Road.
Is there a hotel near here? Yes, in .
The map shows St Anne's Church in Mill Lane.
Is there a church near here? Yes, in .
The map shows a museum called Railway Museum in Park Road.
Is there a museum near here? Yes, in .
The map shows a bookshop called Barker's in Market Street.
Is there a bookshop near here? Yes, in .
The map shows a restaurant called Rossi's in Queen Street.
Is there a restaurant near here? Yes, in .
The map shows Victoria Park at the far end of Albert Road.
Is there a park near here? Yes, at the end of .

78.2 Where are these places? Use the where necessary.

AlhambraBrandenburg GateColosseumLouvrePrinces StreetRed SquareSchiphol AirportShard

Red Square is in Moscow.
Red Square is in Moscow.
is in Paris.
is in London.
is in Rome.
is in Edinburgh.
is in Berlin.
is in Granada.
is near Amsterdam.

78.3 Which is right? Write the correct form in each gap.

Have you ever been to the Natural History Museum (Natural History Museum / the Natural History Museum)?
Have you ever been to the Natural History Museum?
Visitors to Cardiff often go to see (Llandaff Cathedral / the Llandaff Cathedral).
The biggest park in Sheffield is (Graves Park / the Graves Park).
I'd love to go to India and see (Taj Mahal / the Taj Mahal).
(Bristol Airport / The Bristol Airport) is about eight miles from the city centre.
"Which theatre are we going to tonight?" " (Lyceum / The Lyceum)."
Megan is a student at (Newcastle University / the Newcastle University).
You should visit (Science and Industry Museum / the Science and Industry Museum). The kids would love it.
If you're after a sausage roll, I'd recommend (Greggs / the Greggs).
Nadia is a pilot. She works for (Ryanair / the Ryanair).
"Which paper do you want?" " (Yorkshire Post / The Yorkshire Post), please."
We went to London and saw (Houses of Parliament / the Houses of Parliament).
Her first novel was published by (Penguin Books / the Penguin Books).
The building on the corner is (School of Music / the School of Music).
(Grand Hotel / The Grand Hotel) is in (King Street / the King Street).
(Tower of London / The Tower of London) stands right next to (Tower Bridge / the Tower Bridge).

Names with and without the 2