The use of definite article "the" before proper nouns

[bangkeaw]

Dear all,

Could anyone help clarify the use of "the" in the following sentences from newspaper please?

1. He was granted a conditional bail and is due to appear at (the) Waverly Local Court today.

2. She was born at (the) Sydney University Hospital.

3. She arrived at (the) Melbourne Airport yesterday.

In the news articles, all "the" above have been omitted. So..is it safe to assume that newspaper language prefers not to add "the" in front of proper nouns?
This is so confusing to me since I was taught quite to the contrary (ie. all proper nouns must be preceded by "the")

Thank you very much for your time (:

[diverhank]

I think that newspapers try to save words...not sure you'd want to drop the "the" for a test .

[Alan]

Hi bangkeaw,

I'm not sure where you got the information :(ie. all proper nouns must be preceded by "the"). The definite article is used as follows:

Before names of seas, rivers, chains of mountains, groups of islands and plural names of countries.
«the Pacific Ocean, the Thames, the Andes, the West Indies, the Netherlands«.

It certainly wouldn't be used in the examples you have given. I have written some material on the use of the articles for the site, which you might want to read:
Articles in English or "Charlie the Brave"
http://www.english-test.net/lessons/16/index.html

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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