回答
>No.2
Make sure you know the TRUE name in English.
Names of oceans: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean
Names of mountains: Mount Saint Helen, Rocky Mountains, Mount Shasta
Names of rivers: Mississippi River, Columbia River, Hudson River
All of these names, except for two, need 'the' before the name.
Can you guess which two? :)
o I can see the Pacific Ocean.
o I swam in the Mississippi River.
o We live near the Rocky Mountains.
x We went to the Mt. Saint Helen.
x We climbed the Mt. Shasta.
Helen and Shasta are names of nouns, not nouns.
If you say "We went to the Saint Helen mountain," it is understandable, but weird. Compare「富士山に行きました。」and「富士の山に行きました。」.
I say be careful because these are also correct:
o I can see the Pacific.
o I swam in the Mississippi.
o We live near the Rockies.
Notice:
- I can see the ___________ (Ocean).
- I swam in the ___________ (River).
- We live near the ___________ (Mountains).
Which ocean? Which river? Which mountains? Give the name!
People will understand 'the Pacific' is the Pacific Ocean, 'the Mississippi' is the Mississippi River, and 'the Rockies' are the Rocky Mountains because 「the」 is there.
When there is no 'the', the meaning can change.
1. I can see Pacific.
Pacific is the name of something, but not necessarily the Pacific Ocean.
2. I swam in Mississippi.
This means he/she swam in 'the state called Mississippi', not the Mississippi River.
2a. I will go to Mississippi.
3. We live near Rockies.
This is some place called Rockies. It may be a store or a restaurant.
3a. We live near the Rockies café.
(Rockies is a café. Which café? The one called Rockies.)
3b. We live near Rockies Café.
3c. We live near the Rockies Café.
(Rockies Café is a café called Rockies Café. This is like 'Yokohama New Theatre' and 'the Yokohama New Theatre' in No.1)
*More complicated:
We found a body in Hudson. (a place called Hudson)
We found a body in the Hudson. (the Hudson River)
We found a body in the Hudson River.
We found a body in the Hudson river. (some river called Hudson, not the Hudson River)
We found a body in Hudson River. (a place called Hudson River, OR it is slang and they dropped 'the'.)
Can I post these?
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-proper-the.htm
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-proper-no-the.htm
Name of noun vs. noun
You use 'the' before a noun (person, place, thing).
'Japan' is only the name of a place.
"I go to Japan." means:
"I go to (a place named/the place named) Japan."
*If the name has a noun, then sometimes you need 'the' before it.
x I go to United States. (place name)
o I go to the United States. (states is a noun)
o I go to the theatre.
o I go to Yokohama New Theatre. ('Yokohama New Theatre' is a name)
o I go to the Yokohama New Theatre. (theatre is a noun in the name)