From: "Julia Thompson"
> Hi, I'm going back through stuff from around the time I went to the
> hospital to have my baby. I'll try to get caught up in responses within a
> week or so....
>
> On Thu, 24 May 2001, Robert Shaw wrote:
>
> > The Netherlands doesn't quite sound like a country name either.
> > Countries don't normally get definite articles in modern English and
> > Netherlands is plural, not a suitable name for a single entity.
>
> Saying "The United States" doesn't seem to bother folks....
>
> :)
>
It's a guideline, not a rule.
More often people say 'the US', which doesn't sound plural
and is shorter, or just 'America' which doesn't sound plural
and as no article in it.
Ukraine lost its definite article when it became a country,
and the majority of countries don't have one.
--
Robert
