What is the grammatically correct way to refer to countries that we normally place a “The” before their actual name, for example, The Gambia, The Ukraine etc? Or do I keep a “The” or do I just pronounce it as “Ukraine”? Just I came across it in a travel book last weekend and got a tad confused about it. So what is the grammatically correct way?
Any answers much appreciated.
By: mongu - 26th April 2003 at 01:57
Same with me:
The Isle of Man
By: Arabella-Cox - 25th April 2003 at 04:28
It is funny, I have thought about the same thing here in New Zealand.
We have two major islands… called the North Island and and the South Island. There are other islands like Stewart Island which is to the south of the South Island and the Chatham Islands which are to the East of the South Island.
We never say we are going to North Island or to South Island… it is always The North Island or The South Island. Stewart Island is just Stewart Island but the Chatham Islands are the Chatham Islands. Norfolk Islands don’t have a the either, but The Bay of Islands do…. very confusing.
By: GZYL - 24th April 2003 at 22:40
Thanks Arthur… I didn’t know that!
By: Saab 2000 - 24th April 2003 at 21:08
Yes it was, thank you once again. I was expecting just something simple but that was very informative.
By: mongu - 24th April 2003 at 20:26
Insightful reply Arthur.
By: Rabie - 24th April 2003 at 19:09
arthur is right – i saw / read / heard it somewhere
when you use “The” is becasue that country name was / is the name of an area
eg The sudan
rabie 😉
By: Saab 2000 - 24th April 2003 at 18:20
Thank you for the replies. I understood about the islands, as I know I live in The Channel Islands likewise with The Solomon Islands and The Marshall Islands etc. But the countries are due to their geographical features. Just a case of the definite article it would seem.
Thanks, it is appreciated.
By: Arthur - 23rd April 2003 at 22:21
In general, “The” in front of a geographical name refers to the region rather than the country. “The Congo” usually refers to the entire basin covered by the Congo river, which entails both Congo-countries (those with Kinshasa and Brazzaville as capitals). The same with “The Gambia”: again this refers to a certain river’s basin, this time it covers the countries Gambia and Senegal.
Something similair can be said about Ukraine. While it is a country now, it got it’s name for being “on the border”. Way back in Czarist days, it was the border region (a real borderline didn’t exist) between Russia and the Turks/Tatars around the Black Sea in the South, and the Poles in the West.
By: GZYL - 23rd April 2003 at 22:17
That sounds daft because of the vowell at the start!
Technically speaking… you could just put a “the” infront of every country… as long as you include the country’s full name!
Examples
The Peoples Republic of –
The Democratic Republic of –
The United Kingdom of –
But then that wouldn’t sound right in a travel book!
By: A330Crazy - 23rd April 2003 at 21:58
Another one which is very silly to mention… The Isle of Wight?
You never hear people say “im going on me hols to Isle of Wight” do you?
By: ink - 23rd April 2003 at 21:54
What about The Congo?
By: GZYL - 23rd April 2003 at 19:52
I see what you mean! It is a bit confusing!
I mean… I think you could say for example:
I’ve just been on holiday to Gambia
but if you try the same for Ukraine it doesn’t sound right! Perhaps it’s because of the country name beginning with a vowell… I mean we use “an” instead of “a” before words starting with a vowell.
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April 23, 2003 at 7:19 pm