> Other English exercises on the same topic: Articles [Change theme]
	> Similar tests: - A/an - 'The' or nothing? - Countable nouns with a/an and some - Article The and geography - THE or NOTHING? - Article A or AN - Article 'the' / nothing - Articles a-an-the-Ø
	> Double-click on words you don't understand

Names with and without the.

Names with and without the.

A/ We do not use 'the' with names of most streets/roads/squares/parks etc.:

Union Street (not 'the...') / Fifth Avenue/ Piccadilly Circus/ Hyde Park
Blackrock Road/ Broadway/ Times Square/ Waterloo Bridge

Many names (especially names of important buildings and institutions) are two words:

Kennedy Airport/ Cambridge University

The first word is usually the name of a person ('Kennedy') or a place ('Cambridge'). We do not usually use 'the' with names like these. Some more examples:

Victoria Station (not 'the...') / Edinburgh Castle/ London Zoo/ Westminster Abbey/ Buckingham Palace/ Canterbury Cathedral

But we say 'the White House', 'the Royal Palace', because 'white' and 'royal' are not names like 'Kennedy' and 'Cambridge'. This is only a general rule and there are exceptions.

B/ Most other names (of places, buildings etc.) have names with the:

These places usually have names with the:

Hotels/restaurants/pubs =  the Station Hotel, the Bombay Restaurant, the Red Lion (pub)
theatres/cinemas = the Palace Theatre, the Odeon Cinema

Museums/galleries = the British Museum, the Tate Gallery

other buildings  = the Empire State Building, the Festival Hall, the White House.
Oceans/seas/canals  = the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal
also:

Newspapers  = the Washington Post, the Financial Times
organisations = the European Community, the BBC (= the British Broadcasting Corporation)

Sometimes we leave out the noun: the Hilton (Hotel), the Sahara (Desert)

Sometimes the name is only the + noun: the Vatican (in Rome), the Sun (British newspaper)

Names with ...of... usually have the. For example:

the Bank of England/ the Tower of London/ the Museum of Modern Art
the Houses of Parliament/ the Great Wall of China/ the Tropic of Capricorn
the Gulf of Mexico/ the University of London (but the London University)

C/ Many shops, restaurants, hotels, banks etc. are named after the people who started them. These names end in -'s or -s. We do not use 'the' with these names:

Lloyds Bank (not the Lloyds Bank)/ McDonalds/ Jack's Guest House/ Harrods (shop)/

Churches are often named after saints:

St John's Church (not the St John's Church)/ St Paul's Cathedral

D/ Names of companies, airlines etc. are usually without 'the':

Fiat (not the Fiat)      Sony      Kodak      British Airways      IBM

Choose the correct form, with or without the.

Twitter Share
English exercise "Names with and without the." created by felin with The test builder. [More lessons & exercises from felin]
Click here to see the current stats of this English test

Please log in to save your progress.

1. Have you ever been to the British Museum0British MuseumI don't know,

2. Hyde Park0The Hyde ParkI don't know is a very large park in central London.

3. Another park in central London is 0the St James's ParkSt James's ParkI don't know.

4. 0The Grand HotelGrand HotelI don't know is in Baker Street.

5. We flew to New York from Gatwick Airportthe Gatwick Airport0I don't know near London.

6. Frank is a student at Liverpool University0the Liverpool UniversityI don't know.

7. If you're looking for a good clothes shop, I would recommend Harrison's0the Harrison'sI don't know.

8. If you're looking for a good pub, I would recommend Ship Innthe Ship Inn0I don't know.

9. 0Statue of LibertyThe Statue of LibertyI don't know is at the entrance to New York harbour.

10. You should go to Science Museumthe Science Museum0I don't know . It's very interesting.

11. John works for IBM now. He used to work for British Telecomthe British Telecom0I don't know.

12. 'Which cinema are you going to this evening?' 'Classic0The ClassicI don't know .'

13. I'd like to go to China and see Great Wall0the Great WallI don't know.

14. This book is published by the Cambridge University Press0Cambridge University PressI don't know.