Making sure I fully understand the "the" rule.
From Englishclub.com: We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other person (with -'s or -s).
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So there should be "the" if they don't have any "s"? (Or do they mean: Don't use "the" on shops, banks, hotels named after a founder or other person whether there's "s" after their name or not"?
Here are some no "s" examples I just came up with:
- I just went to the Barclay Bank (if that name exist)
- I heard the Hush Nightclub is the best club in Houston. (Though I'm not very sure if that Hush is named after a person or from something)
- I'm trying to find my way to the Jack and Jill. (A shop named Jack and Jill)
Are there any errors? Or is there anything I don't understand correctly?
We say "the" Wal*mart in the southern part of the US sometimes. I say it mostly as a joke. It would sound better without the "the".
-I just went to Barclay Bank (it may be a bank both speaker and listener know).
-Which Barclay bank? (Listener asks for clarification.)
-THE Eddie Barclay bank (implies a specific bank at a specific location or clarifies that it is indeed Eddie Barclay bank, not a bank with a similar name.)
Or
I just went to the Barclay Bank (wink, wink), said Ima Robba to her husband Hesa Robba II.
(I went to the specific bank we talked about...)
'The Arsenal'
For some reason, fans of 'Arsenal' like to call it 'the Arsenal' and get very upset if you don't. Rather like people who live in 'the Ukraine'. Sorry, I might have got that the wrong way round, 'Rather like people who live in Ukraine'.
I would say Barclays Bank. British people have a lot of trouble with the apostrophe’s’, so I would not worry too much about it.
Barclay or Berkeley?
It can be pronounced two different ways.
Barclays Bank is always pronounced Barclay.
But Berkeley Castle is pronounced Barclay. (Famous for the red hot poker incident that I am sure that Damian is familiar with.)
The Americans, just to spoil things, actually pronounce things as they are spelt. So, Berkeley is spelt 'Berkeley' and pronounced Berkeley; how very odd!
I think you will find the football team generally known as 'Shitty City' is called 'City', whereas the City of London is referred to as 'the City'.
There is also a small village in Buckinghamshire also called 'the City' as it was called on to perform this function during the plague.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&vps=1&jsv=175c&sll=51.647211,-0.799942&sspn=0.039837,0.077162&ie=UTF8&geocode=Fa1SFAMdRc3y_w&split=0
'The City' Buckinghamshire is quite close to 'Beacon's Bottom' or should that be Beacons Bottom HP14?
Aizuko, I'm not sure there's a hard and fast rule we can give you for this. I used to work across the street from Lowe's Hardware, and when giving directions, we would say "across from the Lowe's on Main". There's only one Lowe's in my town, and it's definitely named after someone named Lowe, but it's also a big national chain, and because of that it has sort of lost that personal name connection, and we don't treat it much differently than Kmart. As in "I'm going to Kmart." "Which Kmart?" "The Kmart on El Paseo."
The same goes for Sam's Club or Smith's, or Albertson's (all grocery stores named after their founders) -- you might say "I need to go to Albertson's for some bread" (no "the"), but if you were asked to specify which one, you could use "the" in the response -- "Well, the only Albertson's that's still open this late".
Alternately, however, we have a restaurant called Little Nellie's. Again, that's a name. But in this case there's only one, and you would just say "I'm going to Little Nellie's", period. Same with Glen Cutter Jeweller's -- you would just say, "I need to get my watch repaired at Glen Cutter." So maybe that's the key -- uniqueness. If a place has multiple locations and you are specifying which one, you can use the "the" (or a or some, or any other appropriate article, as in "there used to be a Smith's on the corner of Walnut and Lohman"). If there's only one version of something, articles aren't generally used ("Little Nellie's used to be over here, behind this building").
Hope that didn't confuse you too much!
In British English I would use the when naming the shop by type ("I am going to the bank") and leave it out when I was naming the shop by name ("I am going to Barclays Bank")
Someone might use the with the name for emphasis, but if you stick to that rule you won't sound wrong.
Right,
I've got this rule - no article for Harrods, Maxim's, Lloyds Bank, Madame Tussauds.
But sure, as Uriel says, if it's a chain, we might need a determiner in some cases.
<<For some reason, fans of 'Arsenal' like to call it 'the Arsenal'.>>
Think about the meaning of the phrase "the Woolwich Arsenal" and Arsenal's origins to understand this.
When I was a child, I couldn't understand why Devil's Tower wasn't called "the Devil's Tower." Just didn't sound right without the "the." Now I am used to it.
Here are some things you might hear in the Midwest (USA):
I'm going to the bank.
I'm going to Well's Fargo (bank).
I'm going to the Well's Fargo Bank, not the Well's Fargo HQ.
I'm going to Well's Fargo the bank, not Well's Fargo the credit union (if there is such a thing).
I heard Well's Fargo is the best bank.
I am trying to find [my way to] Well's Fargo.
I am trying to find [my way to] the Well's Fargo on Wisconsin Ave.
Where can you find a Well's Fargo around here? I've only seen USBanks.