Re: Article or no article
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lara
Names of rivers go with the definite article: the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Volga, etc. Why then do names like Fountain River, Red River, Cherry Creek, Horse Creek, Sybille Creek, and Powder River appear without the article in serious books by a renowned publishing house? Does the fact that the words "red," "cherry," and "powder" have a meaning of their own and "Mississippi" etc. are only proper names have anything to do with the use of the article?
Lara
People seemed to go off topic, and I don't feel like reading 7 pages, so if this was posted already disregard it. The answer to your question is simple. You leave off the article becuase if you say "the REd River" it will sound as if the river is actuallt red. If you say "the Powder River" the image I get in my head is a river of powder. Leaving off the article kind of tells you that it's the NAME of the river and not the attribute. That is, "red" and 'powder" are not being used as adjective, but rather as names .