Do you know when you need to use ‘the’ in common phrases and place names? Enhance your knowledge with a lesson given below and the grammar explanation to guide you better.
Check out these examples to see when ‘the’ is and isn't used:
I'm heading to the office.
She drives to town every day.
My friend is starting university next month.
I toured the university campus yesterday.
The Amazon River flows through South America.
Help me with the IELTS Registration
Grammar explanation - Articles: 'the' or no article
Here are some ways we use articles in common phrases and place names.
1. Common phrases
We don’t typically use an article with expressions involving school, work, or home.
go to sleep / be asleep
go to class / start class / finish class
come home / be home / get home / stay home
We also generally don’t use an article with college, church, jail, or church.
start college / go to college / be at college
go to church / be at church
be sent to jail / go to jail / be in jail
go to church / be in church
However, we use the when someone is visiting these places for another reason, not as a student, inmate, or worshipper.
My daughter just started college. I went to the college for orientation.
I used to visit the church often when I was a historian.
I’m at the hospital now. My cousin had surgery.
2. Place names
We don’t generally use an article for continents, most countries, cities, towns, islands, lakes, and mountains. So, we say:
North America, Australia, Antarctica
Brazil, Sweden, Malaysia, New Zealand
Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Nairobi
Lake Baikal, Lake Michigan, Lake Malawi
Mount Fuji, Mount McKinley, Mount Aconcagua
Oxford University, Cambridge University, Stanford University
Some countries, however, are exceptions. For instance, countries with Republic or Kingdom in their names use the:
the Dominican Republic, the United States, the Philippines
the Netherlands, the Maldives
Oceans, seas, mountain ranges, and rivers also take the:
the Indian Ocean, the Arctic, the Red Sea
the Rockies, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians
the Danube, the Mississippi, the Thames
Universities with of in the title use the:
the University of Sydney, the University of Oxford, the University of California