Definite Article "The"

Question

Why should we use "The" before United Kingdom, The United States?and not before all the names of countries?

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

We do not use 'the' before names of countries that are purely names. We do use 'the' before what is essentially the description of the nature of the country.

Germany - the Federal Republic of Germany
America - the United States (of America)
Great Britain, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales - The United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
Ireland, Eire - the Irish Republic.
Belgium
Italy
Oman - The Sultanate of Oman
Holland - The Netherlands (= The Low Countries)
China - The People's Republic of China

Nakool · Answer

As per my knowledge,

I reckon there's a simpler rule that one should follow: use the article the with countries that have a common noun within its name:
the UK = the United Kingdom
the USA = the United States of America

use the article the with countries

whose name is in the plural:
the Netherlands
the Philippines

The is used with country names with of

the United States of America

the Republic of China

Teachers, please correct me if I am wrong at any point.

Vivreddy · Answer

What about planets and constellations??

The is used with "earth","moon","sun" but not with other planets and start (like mercury,mars .. etc)

Fivejedjon · Answer

For centuries we believed that there was only one earth, with one sun and one moon going round it. 'Earth' is sometimes used as a name (in which case it has no article), but usually it is not. So, we have the earth, the sun and the moon.

Beyond the orbits of the sun and moon were the stars (plural), some of which had names, and the planets (plural., all of which had names. These names, being names, did not take an article. They were Mars, Venus, etc, just as they might have been Peter, Mary, etc.

Definite Article "The"

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