Usage notes

The word the precedes proper nouns in a number of cases, although most proper nouns use no article. There are always exceptions. See also for more information. ; Countries ** As a general rule, country names are not preceded by the . There are a few exceptions, most of which are pluralised: * The Netherlands * The Bahamas * The Solomon Islands * The Maldives * The Seychelles * The Philippines * The Yemen (can also be used without an article) * The Sudan (can also be used without an article) * The Ukraine (article dropped since 1991) * The Lebanon (usually used without the article) ** Names of countries containing specifications like kingdom', '''republic etc are used with ''the : * The United States * The United Kingdom * The United Arab Emirates * The Czech Republic ; Place names ** Some place names use a definite article * All oceans (The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean) * All seas (The Red Sea, The Bering Sea, The Caribbean Sea), and straits (The Strait of Magellan, the Bering Strait, The Bosphorus) * All rivers (The Amazon, The Nile, The Mississippi, The Seine, The Yangtze), canals (The Panama Canal, The Suez Canal) and deltas (The Nile Delta, The Orinoco Delta, The Colorado River Delta) * All art galleries (The Tate, The Louvre, The Smithsonian American Art Museum), all museums with the word museum in the name (The National Museum of Natural History, The British Museums) * Most English-language newspapers (The New York Times, The Guardian, The Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal) ; Bands ** Musical bands with a plural name are generally used with the : * The Beatles * The Rolling Stones ; Universities ** University names beginning with the word "University", and some other university names, are used with the : * The University of North Carolina * The Ohio State University * When used before an adjective which is not followed by a noun, it may refer to a group of people for which the adjective is appropriate: ** the Scottish = Scots ** the rich = rich people (considered as a group)