articles before proper nouns

[musicgold]

Hi,

I am trying to understand why 'Pension Investment Academy' should be preceded by 'the'. Shouldn't we treat that phrase as a proper noun. Please comment.

‘The trip was one of several conducted by the Pension Investment Academy.’

Thanks,

MG.

 

[David L.]

It is regarded as a proper noun, just as in "The trip was one of several conducted by the school’, 'school' is a proper noun.
In both cases, use of 'the' indicates we are referring to a specific Academy, or school.

 

[musicgold]

Pardon me, but I think school is a common noun. Common nouns used for a class or category like dog, cat etc. Proper nouns are names of things/places, e.g. John, Tokyo, and France.

 

[David L.]

sorry - I misjudged your level of English. I thought you were using proper = 'actual,real'

Is the Pension Investment Academy some kind of academic training establishment, or a corporation?

 

[musicgold]

It is an industry association (fictitious).

 

[Barb_D]

There's no rule that says which proper nouns take the "the" and which do not. I went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institue, my brother went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My sister-in-law attended the University of Michigan, but my friend when to Penn State.

 

[musicgold]

There's no rule that says which proper nouns take the "the" and which do not.

Thanks. So, how do you decide whether or not use an article in such situations?

 

[Barb_D]

You refer to how the organization uses it. Google is your friend!