Why do we use articles before Congo?

“Sometimes country names go back to river names. As late as the mid-20th Century, everyone said The Congo because Congo is the river and named after the river, but no-one says it any more.”

Do we use articles before countries?

Geographical Use of the Definite Article (The) With Country Names. Typically, the article the is not used before the names of countries and territories: The is also used with countries whose names include the words states, kingdom, or republic: My sister lives in United States .

What languages have no articles?

Articles are found in many Indo-European languages, Semitic languages (only the definite article), and Polynesian languages; however, they are formally absent from many of the world’s major languages including: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, many Turkic languages (incl.

Why a an the are called articles?

A and An are called indefinite articles because they are used when we do not specify a particular person or thing we are referring to, the person or thing remains indefinite.

Why do we use the before Philippines?

Use “the Philippines.” It is a short form of its original name, “the Philippine Islands” which was directly translated from the Spanish “Las Islas Filipinas” (the islands named after King Felipe II of Spain).

Why is the used before a country name?

For example, the United States of America has the common noun ‘States’ in its name, so we need to use ‘The’. Here is another example: The Islamic Republic of Iran contains the common noun ‘Republic’, so we need to use ‘The’.

What are the article words?

Don’t Underestimate These Three Little Words Articles are actually adjectives because they describe the nouns that they precede. In English, there are only three articles: the, a, and an. However, the three are not interchangeable; rather, they are used in specific instances.