Page 168 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
78 Names with and without the 2

A Names without the
We do not use the with names of most city streets/roads/squares/parks etc. :
Union Street (not the …) Fifth Avenue Hyde Park
Abbey Road Broadway Times Square
Names of many public buildings and institutions (airports, stations, universities etc.), and also some
geographical names, are two words:
Manchester Airport Harvard University
The first word is the name of a place (‘Manchester’) or a person (‘Harvard’). These names are
usually without the. In the same way, we say:
Victoria Station (not the …) Canterbury Cathedral Edinburgh Castle
Buckingham Palace Cambridge University Sydney Harbour
Compare:
Buckingham Palace (not the …) but the Royal Palace
(‘Royal’ is an adjective – it is not a name like ‘Buckingham’.)

B Most other buildings have names with the. For example:
hotels the Sheraton Hotel, the Holiday Inn
theatres/cinemas the Palace Theatre, the Odeon (cinema)
museums the Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery
other buildings the Empire State (Building), the White House, the Eiffel Tower
We often leave out the noun:
the Sheraton (Hotel) the Palace (Theatre) the Guggenheim (Museum)
Some names are only the + noun, for example:
the Acropolis the Kremlin the Pentagon

C Names with of usually have the. For example:
the Bank of England the Museum of Modern Art
the Great Wall of China the Tower of London

Note that we say:
the University of Cambridge but Cambridge University (without the)

D Many shops, restaurants, hotels etc. are named after people. These names end in -’s or -s. We do not use
the with these names:
McDonald’s (not the …) Barclays (bank)
Joe’s Diner (restaurant) Macy’s (department store)
Churches are often named after saints (St = Saint):
St John’s Church (not the …) St Patrick’s Cathedral

E Most newspapers and many organisations have names with the:
the Washington Post the Financial Times the Sun (newspaper)
the European Union the BBC the Red Cross

Names of companies, airlines etc. are usually without the:
Fiat (not the Fiat) Sony Singapore Airlines
Kodak IBM Yale University Press

156 Names with and without the 1 ➜ Unit 77