the definite article + Proper Nouns

[ewelina]

Please advise:

1) what are so-called Weak Proper Names? Please give me as many examples as you can...

2) what are the rules for inserting the definite article before Proper Nouns cited with original spelling (accents included) from a foreign language, which by the way in English are preceded by no article, f.i. the Via Veneto, the rue de Grenelle, the rue de Rivoli, the Nevsky Prospect, the Via dell'abdunanza, the Via Ludovisi, the Piazza Barberi, the Piazza del Popolo, the Lago Maggiore, the Pons Auelius, the Palais Bourbon, the Palais de la Berbie, the Palazzo Margherite, the Castello Ruspoli, the Ponti della Valle?

And following this manner - do we use the definite article with the names of the single mountains/peaks taken (with original spelling) from a foreign language like Das Matterhorn = the Matterhorn, Le Barre des Ecrins = the Barre des Ecrins, Das Eiger = the Eiger, Das Mönch = the Mönch, Die Jungfrau = the Jungfrau, Le Bois = the Bois?

4) when should we use the definite article with the names of famous art masterpieces (f.i. the Mona Lisa, the David, the Venus of Milo etc.)?

5) what is the correct form of the foreign surnames in the plural (the Medici, the Strozzi, the Este)?

[ewelina]

Hello,

I have never gotten any answer to my questions. Does anybody know the answers? As I see the number of the overviews I assume it is a quite interesting topic for everyone.

Ewelina

Originally Posted by ewelina

Please advise:

1) what are so-called Weak Proper Names? Please give me as many examples as you can...

2) what are the rules for inserting the definite article before Proper Nouns cited with original spelling (accents included) from a foreign language, which by the way in English are preceded by no article, f.i. the Via Veneto, the rue de Grenelle, the rue de Rivoli, the Nevsky Prospect, the Via dell'abdunanza, the Via Ludovisi, the Piazza Barberi, the Piazza del Popolo, the Lago Maggiore, the Pons Auelius, the Palais Bourbon, the Palais de la Berbie, the Palazzo Margherite, the Castello Ruspoli, the Ponti della Valle?

And following this manner - do we use the definite article with the names of the single mountains/peaks taken (with original spelling) from a foreign language like Das Matterhorn = the Matterhorn, Le Barre des Ecrins = the Barre des Ecrins, Das Eiger = the Eiger, Das Mönch = the Mönch, Die Jungfrau = the Jungfrau, Le Bois = the Bois?

4) when should we use the definite article with the names of famous art masterpieces (f.i. the Mona Lisa, the David, the Venus of Milo etc.)?

5) what is the correct form of the foreign surnames in the plural (the Medici, the Strozzi, the Este)?

[Tdol]

This is an area that is a real mess.
We use 'the' with European mountains that take a definite article in their language.

It seems that we often use a definite article if a word like 'rue' comes at the beginning, but there are many contradictions when we use foreign words.

You'll see both the Medici and the Medicis.

I honestly have no idea about art masterpieces- we say the Mona Lisa, but Guernica.

[okay19]

yes, i know u have nothing to say about proper names with definite articles!u ve got things to say about punctuation and u r good at ,specially Anglican , deflecting the course of discussion if u r out of information about some issue that u r responsible! close this web site if u r not capable of teaching english!

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by okay19

yes, i know u have nothing to say about proper names with definite articles!u ve got things to say about punctuation and u r good at ,specially Anglican , deflecting the course of discussion if u r out of information about some issue that u r responsible! close this web site if u r not capable of teaching english!

Please be a bit more polite. You are not required to contribute. If you do, we would appreciate a positive and relative comment rather than mere abuse.