balakrishnanijk
Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2007
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- Malayalam
- Home Country
- India
- Current Location
- India
The more you browse the Internet, the more confused you become about the usage of the definite article with geographical names. Wikipedia uses no definite article before "Hoover Dam", but when we look it up on Britannica or the BBC we find the article there. Next to Wikipedia, there are a host of websites that use the "articled" variety. With regard to" Niagara Falls" and"Victoria Falls", Wikipedia seems to be divided:both varieties can be seen in the articles. The matter is complicated by the fact that the opening sentence of the article on "Angel Falls" does not use the definite article before the name of the waterfall.Who can demystify that?" Potala Palace" is always used with the definite article;"Topkapi Palace" is sometimes used with the definite article;"Buckingham Palace" never. On the one hand we have" Wood Buffalo national park" and on the other," the Serengeti National Park".The crater in Tanzania is called "the Ngorongoro Crater" but its counterpart in Arizona is simply "Meteor Crater". A host of other examples can be found by surfing sites on palaces, dams, craters,falls and suchlike things. Mastering the complicated and irrational hodge-podge of English grammar is a gargantuan problem for a foreign learner depending entirely upon dictionaries and encyclopedias. It is high time we did away with some of the ridiculous rules and regulations deeply entrenched in the grammatical edifice of the English language and brought some simplicity and clarity to it. Native speakers may not find it difficult to negotiate English grammar but one cannot underestimate the fact that there are more second and third language speakers of English than native speakers in the world. People who used to dub English as a colonial tool and deem it unworthy to learn it are becoming increasingly aware of the role it has been playing in the ongoing process of globalization and showing more interest in mastering it. Under the circumstances what I would suggest is that since there are a lot of prospective learners in every part of the world English speaking countries should do something to make things easier for them. I look forward to valuable comments and suggestions from native speakers and prospective learners.
PS: By English speaking countries I mean the United Kingdom, the US, Australia, and so on. Here most of us think in our mother tongue and then translate into English.
PS: By English speaking countries I mean the United Kingdom, the US, Australia, and so on. Here most of us think in our mother tongue and then translate into English.