Names of streets, buildings, etc. with and without the

UNIT 73   Names of streets, buildings, etc. with and without the

A.   We do not normally use the with names of streets, roads, avenues, boulevards, squares, etc.:

• Fifth Avenue.

• Bloor Street.

• Piccadilly Circus.

• Wilshire Boulevard.

• Broadway.

• Red Square.

B.   Many names (for example, of airports or universities) are two or three words:

• Kennedy Airport

• Boston University

The first word is usually the name of a person ("Kennedy") or a place ("Boston"). We do not usually say the with names like these:

• Pearson International Airport

• Buckingham Palace

• Penn Station

• Hyde Park

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

C.   We usually say the before the names of these places:
hotels                                   the Hilton Hotel, the Sheraton (Hotel)

restaurants                          the Bombay Restaurant, the Stage Delicatessen

theaters                                the Shubert (Theater), the National Theater

movie theaters                    the R KO Plaza, the Quad

museums/galleries             the Metropolitan Museum, the National Gallery, the Louvre

buildings/monuments       the Empire State Building, the Washington Monument

But banks do not usually take the:

• First Interstate Bank.

• Citibank.

• Lloyds Bank.

D.   Many stores and restaurants are named after the people who started them. These names end in s or 's. We do not use the with these names:

• "Where did you buy that hat?"   "At Macy's." (not the Macy's)

• We're going to have lunch at Mama Leone's (not the Mama Leone's)

Churches are sometimes named after saints (St Saint)

• St. John's Church.

• St. Patrick's Cathedral.

E.   We say the before the names of places, buildings, etc., with of.

• the Tower of London

• the Museum of Modern Art

• the Great Wall of China

• the University of Southern California