0
Equilibrium8 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Proper Nouns: "in the Acme Zoo" vs "in Acme Zoo"

I am confused by the usage of zoo in proper nouns. Proper nouns almost always omit "the" before the noun, but googling usage on nytimes.com I found "in the Blah Zoo" to be extremely frequent. Why would zoos break this proper noun rule/guideline? I don't find it applied to any other places being used as proper nouns.
  

Top answer

Many proper nouns take the article: The Brooklyn Bridge The Pacific Ocean The Eiffel Tower The Mississippi River Many others do not: Pike's Peak Brokeback Mountain Great Salt Lake Staten Island There is no rule, only trends.

— Mister Micawber

  • Many proper nouns take the article: The Brooklyn Bridge The Pacific Ocean The Eiffel Tower The Mississippi River Many others do not: Pike's Peak Brokeback Mountain Great Salt Lake Staten Island There is no rule, only trends.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
Many proper nouns take the article:

The Brooklyn Bridge
The Pacific Ocean
The Eiffel Tower
The Mississippi River

Many others do not:

Pike's Peak
Brokeback Mountain
Great Salt Lake
Staten Island

There is no rule, only trends.
0
0
Thanks. Sure, it seems to be more a matter of style than grammar.
0

Related Questions