English Grammar: definite article: lakes

[Renee Stillings | Alinga]

I suspect what they meant is that you would use the article if the actual
name of the lake was not present - i.e. you would say "the lake" but
definitely not "the Baikal" ... an example of this would be "The Great
Lakes" or "we are going to the lake to swim", however one would not say "the
Erie" or "the Superior".

Renee

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anna Plisetskaya" <annaplis at MAIL.RU>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] English Grammar: definite article: lakes


> Dear English native speakers,
>
> Could you please help me solve one problem concerning the usage of
articles.
> The respected Murphy Grammar tells us that we use THE with the names of
> seas, rivers, oceans (e.g. the River Volga), but we do not use THE before
> the word LAKE (e.g. lake Constance)., while many Russian textbooks add
that
> we should use THE with the names of lakes and omit it if the word LAKE is
> present (e.g. lake Baikal, but the Baikal). I wonder if they are right:
> shall I explain the students that we say the Baikal but Lake Baikal? To
tell
> the truth, I've always believed we shouldn't use THE in both cases. Could
> you please put an end to my doubts?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Anna Plisetskaya, Ph.D. (Moscow).
>
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