When to use the definite article with proper nouns in English?

In English, some proper nouns (specific names for things) are always used with the definite article the. For example:

But other proper nouns can never be used with a definite article:

In this article we will discuss:

• What a definite article is in English

• What a proper noun is

• When we use the definite article with a proper noun

Ready to get started? Let’s jump in and learn about definite articles and proper nouns in English!

The definite article in English is the word the. We use it before a or to show that you are talking about a specific noun. Let’s look at a few examples and see why we use or don’t use a definite article:

A proper noun in English is a very specific name for something. For example, book is a common noun but the title of a specific book, such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, is a proper noun.

Usually, a proper noun cannot be used with a definite article, even though a proper noun refers to something specific:

However, there are some nouns that are always used with definite articles. Let’s have a look at some of the kinds of nouns that use the.

We use the definite article before a proper noun when the is part of the noun’s specific name. Here are some of the categories of proper nouns that often have a definite article as part of their name.

• Proper nouns with “of” in their name

  the United States of America the University of Texas , the People’s Republic of China

  the Republic of Korea, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, the Gulf of Mexico

• Countries or groups of countries that include Republic, Kingdom, Union, Federation, Confederation, or State

  the United Kingdom, the Dominican Republic, the European Union

  the Russian Federation, the United Mexican States, the Swiss Confederation

  → These are sometimes shortened versions of proper nouns with “of” (e.g. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

• Names for island chains

  the Philippines, the Bahamas, the Hebrides

  the Channel Islands, the British Isles, the Florida Keys

  → Usually only applies to plural names for islands. Island chains with singular names (like Hawaii) do not usually have a definite article.

• Rivers, canals, oceans, seas

  the Nile River, the Panama Canal, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea

  the Thames (River), the Mississippi (River), the Erie Canal, the Amazon (River)

  → Though groups of lakes (e.g. the Finger Lakes) often have a definite article, singular lakes (e.g. Lake Victoria) usually do not.

  → We often do not say the word river, especially if the river is famous

• Unique geography features (e.g. deserts, forests, gulfs, peninsulas, mountain ranges,...)

  the Rocky Mountains, the Andes (Mountains), the Sahara (Desert), the Balkan Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest

  the Continental Divide, the San Andreas Fault, the 45th Parallel, the Blue Grotto, the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, the Great Barrier Reef

  → Notice, most of these have the format: description + type of geographical feature

  → We often do not use the word mountains and instead just use the plural form of the word that describes them:

  the Rocky Mountains → the Rockies

  the Appalachian Mountains → the Appalachians

  the Andes Mountains → the Andes

  → We do not usually use a definite article if the name for the geographic feature comes first (e.g. Mount Everest, Lake Michigan) or if the descriptor is a person (e.g. Hudson Bay, Pikes Peak, Carlsbad Caverns).

• Proper names for groups of people (e.g. families, bands, sports teams…)

  the Smiths

  → the Smith family

  the Joneses

  → the Jones family

  the Yankees

  → a baseball team

  the Patriots

  → a football team

  the Beatles

  → a band

  the Ramones

  → a band

  the Marines

  → a military group

  the Navy SEALs

  → a military group

  → Names for families always have a definite article and are formed by taking the family’s last name and adding the plural -s.

  → Most of these are plural nouns, but there are exceptions (e.g. the Heat is a Miami basketball team).

• Famous buildings and monuments

  the White House
  

  the Berlin Wall

  the Eiffel Tower

  the Jefferson Monument

  the Great Wall of China

  → Like with geographical features, these mostly have the form descriptor + building type

• Newspapers

  the New York Times

  the National Inquirer

  the Sunday Post

  the Chicago Tribune

  → These usually have the form descriptor + type of newspaper. Papers with other formats (e.g. USA Today) do not usually have a definite article.

• Organizations

  the United Nations

  the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

  the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

  the Humane Society

  the Girl Scouts

  the Audubon Society

  the Air Force

  the Red Cross

• Historical time periods

  the 1800s

  the Reformation

  the Renaissance

  the 1920s

  the Age of Enlightenment

  the Turn of the Century

When a proper noun requires the definite article, you always use the before it. You cannot use it without an article and you cannot use the indefinite article a/an or any other like that or my.

Let’s look at a couple examples!

When a proper noun starts with the, we do not usually capitalize the unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.

Proper nouns can sometimes be turned into proper adjectives when they are used to describe another noun.

Nouns that are described with proper adjectives will always have the in front of them, even if they are not proper nouns. For example:

To learn more about why some common nouns always (or almost always) have a definite article, check out our post introducing definite and indefinite articles in English.

In this article we reviewed the definite article in English and how we use it. Then we talked when we use and don’t use the definite article with proper nouns. Typically, we don’t use the before a proper noun, except when the is part of the proper noun’s name. This is common in the names for:

Hopefully now you feel more confident in your knowledge of the definite article and proper nouns in English! Check out the extra practice activities to boost your knowledge!