Blog about English
Articles with rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, deserts, islands and countries.
Do not use an article before the names of continents.
Examples include Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica and Australia.
Do not use an article with most country names.
Most countries are used without an article. Countries with plural or descriptive names are important exceptions.
Use the with countries whose names are plural or contain words such as republic, kingdom, federation, emirates or states.
Examples include the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates.
Do not use an article before the names of cities, towns or villages.
Examples include London, Paris, Kyiv, Tokyo and Oxford.
Do not use an article with most street names, roads, parks and public squares.
Examples include Oxford Street, Fifth Avenue, Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square.
Use the before the names of rivers.
Examples include the Thames, the Nile, the Amazon and the Dnipro.
Use the before the names of seas, oceans, gulfs, canals and channels.
Examples include the Mediterranean, the Pacific Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Suez Canal and the English Channel.
Do not use an article before the names of individual lakes.
Examples include Lake Victoria, Lake Baikal and Lake Superior.
Do not use an article before the names of individual mountains.
Examples include Mount Everest, Mount Fuji and Ben Nevis.
Use the before the names of mountain ranges.
Examples include the Alps, the Himalayas, the Andes and the Rockies.
Use the before the names of deserts.
Examples include the Sahara, the Gobi and the Atacama Desert.
Do not use an article before the names of individual islands.
Examples include Greenland, Madagascar, Sicily and Cyprus.
Use the before the names of island groups.
Examples include the Canary Islands, the Bahamas, the Maldives and the Hebrides.
Some geographical regions require the, while others do not.
Examples include the Middle East, the Arctic, the Far East, the Balkans and Central Europe.
Use the with compass directions when they refer to regions, but not when they indicate direction.
Compare: travel north, live in the north, Northern Europe and the South.