geographical places with "the"

Question

What does the third sentence in this paragraph mean? When do you often use " the"?

Names of geographical places are proper nouns. Usually proper nouns do not take articles. However, we often use "the" when referring to geographical features by name. For example: I climbed the Alps. and She swam in the Pacific.

Thank you.

Clive · Accepted Answer

It means
eg we don't say I climbed Alps.
eg we don't say She swam in Pacific.

Anonymous · Answer

On a map of the US, for example, you would see various geographical features labeled: Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Mississippi River, Lake Michigan, Great Salt Lake, etc. On maps, geographical features such as these usually are without the definite article. However, when referring to such geographical features, the definite article is usually necessary, for example:

I visited the Grand Canyon. ("I visited Grand Canyon." is incorrect.)

I saw the Mississippi River.

I swam in Lake Michigan. (If the words "lake," "mount," "canyon," "arroyo," etc. precede the name, then no definite article is used when referring to it. So, "I swam in the Lake Michigan." and "I climbed the Mount McKinley." are incorrect.)

I swam in Great Salt Lake. (Because the word "great" is the first word here, you can also correctly say "I swam in the Great Salt Lake.")

Etc.

Makiasan · Answer

Thank you so much, teachers!

Maki

geographical places with "the"

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