"the" with geographical names

[milan2003_07]

Dear friends,

My question is about using "the" together with geographical names and historical exhibits:

1) Now we're driving along the (?) Palace Embankment and soon we'll see the buildings of the Hermitage museum

2) Now we're crossing the (?) Palace Bridge over the Neva River

3) We've come to the (?) Council Staircase which leads to the ground floor of the New Hermitage

Do we need "the" in all these cases?

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, they're all correct.

 

[milan2003_07]

If Palace Embankment and Palace Bridge are names, then we would not use the article in BrE.

What do you mean by "names"? Actually, my questions can be reformulated the following way:

1) Do we need "the" before the names of bridges?

2) Do we need "the" before the names of embankments?

3) Do we need "the" before the names of staircases?

Thanks

 

[GoesStation]

Only the Charles Bridge works for my AmE ears. On the other hand, it's "London Bridge", never The London Bridge.

 

[GoesStation]

That does surprise me. Few, if any, of the expat Americans here would use the definite article.

Named bridges in the States take the definite article, if my mental inventory is at all accurate. The Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the Brent Spence Bridge, etc.

 

[Tdol]

But we do have (The) Embankment in London- I hear it with and without the article.

 

[Tdol]

We don't normally need 'the' before than names of anything.

Some things do generally take an article- museums and are galleries mostly do.

 

[milan2003_07]

What do you mean by "names"? Actually, my questions can be reformulated the following way:

1) Do we need "the" before the names of bridges?

2) Do we need "the" before the names of embankments?

3) Do we need "the" before the names of staircases?

Thanks

ok, I'll offer several sentences and please tell me if the usage of "the" is correct here or not. All the bridges and embankments mentioned below are the ones that can be found on the map of St. Petersburg. The names of the staircases included in my example are from the Hermitage museum:

1) Our bus is driving along the Universitetskaya embankment and soon we'll see the Menshikov palace.

The Angliyskaya embankment was called so because of the English embassy that existed there some time ago.

The most beautiful embankment in St. Petersburg is the Palace embankment due to the Hermitage museum strenching along it for more than 300 metres.

2) After crossing the Stock Exchange bridge we'll get to Petrogratskiy island where there is the Peter and Paul fortress.

The Annunciation bridge was named after the Annunciation church destroyed after the Revolution of 1917.

The deepest spot of the Neva is near the Foundry bridge.

3) The Council staircase is decorated with a beautiful vase made of malachite in the Russian mosaic technique.

The main staircase in the Hermitage is the Ambassadors' staircase in the Winter Palace.

I'd like to see the Theatre staircase near the Hermitage Theatre.


Thanks

 

[GoesStation]

You have a challenging task, given that Russian doesn't use articles. I think all your examples are find with the article, except that its presence makes the descriptive noun -- embankment, bridge, church, or staircase -- part of a proper noun. Therefore you should write the Universitetskaya Embankment, the Stock Exchange Bridge, the Ambassadors' Staircase, etc.

Don't capitalize these nouns when they aren't part of a proper noun: write The main staircase in the Hermitage is the Ambassadors' Staircase in the Winter Palace.