In front of a country, with article or without? La China?

Question

I read a book,it said,except India is La India, the rest countries all of them without articles. Is it wrong?

Good question. - kirk1, Dec 18, 2012

Answer 1

Melissa,

Saying la China y la India is correct.

Saying la China e India is correct.

Saying China e India is correct.

Saying China y la India is correct.

So I really wonder where your confusion is. The thing is, some countries (Líbano, Peru, Argentina, China, India...) can take the article whereas others don't. But the article is not mandatory really. In the case of "La India" it's quite common, people use it almost all the time for whatever reason. In the case of China using the article is not so common. It's just a matter of preference.

Great Cogu, we can't go wrong, really! - annierats, Dec 18, 2012

¡Mejor ni canta un gallo! - francobollo, Dec 19, 2012

Answer 2

Hi Melissa!

Check this link to see when the article is accepted in front of a proper name of a country/city.

In those that are followed by the article in brackets the use of the article is accepted.

http://www.rae.es/dpd/

edited: Opps, sorry, the link is not direct. You have to look for this: Apéndice 5: Lista de países y capitales, con sus gentilicios

I can't open this website, don't know why. - zhmelissa, Dec 18, 2012

Answer 3

Just to add to your confusion, Melissa:

In English we say: The Canary Islands , the Falkland Islands and the British Islands, but other Islands, such as Mallorca , Menorca and Island never ever take the definite article. Yet they are all islands. And yes, we do say the Argentine even though it's not an island..

Sorry Melissa, I only added this out of interest.

It's after al EL país so it's logical that it takes la to it's various names..As Francobollo says, languages..One just has to go with the flow, as best one can.

Thanks for pointing out the same inconsistancy in English. - gringojrf, Dec 18, 2012

I don't think it's help, but it's interesting. - annierats, Dec 18, 2012

Answer 4

Try this link instead.

Answer 5

I have not seen a definite article use in front of the name of a country. However it seems indefinite articles are used

Sure. El Líbano, La India, etc. Check out Comugela's RAE link. - francobollo, Dec 17, 2012

Hmmm, that´s exactly the opposite of what I´ve seen gohern. I.e La india. I´m not sure how UNA India or any other indefinte article would make sense. Not since we´ve been down to one Germany anyway :) - rogspax, Dec 17, 2012

Siempre aprendo algo nuevo aqui! Gracias - gohern, Dec 17, 2012

The country name "La Argentina" has so influenced English that some people call the country "The Argentine" - daft but true - padrin, Dec 17, 2012

Answer 6

Durante muchísimos siglos el hombre desconocía la forma de la Tierra. Para la mayoría , ella era cuadrada.Sin embargo, desde la antigüedad, algunos sabios ya sospechaban que era redonda. Al comenzar el siglo XV,en Europa, había cada día más gente convencida de esta nueva idea.Creía que viajando siempre en una misma dirección, se regresaría al punto de partida. Se elaboraron planes de navegación más concretos. Como todavía se desconodía la existencia del Continente Americano.se creía que , cruzando el océano Atlántico, se llegaría directamente a los ricos imperios asiáticos como China y la India . La posibilidad no podía dejara de interesar en Europa. Muchas personas pensaban que si lograban comerciar más fácilmente con Asia, ganarían mucho dinero y se enriquecerían rápidamente. Pero, esta gente,aunque aceptaba la idea,no estaba en condiciones de pagar el costoso viaje. Los únicos capaces de hacerlo eran los poderosos reyes.Precisamente en ese momento, la corte española necesitaba mucho oro y plata para seguir luchando contra los moros y reconstruir el país después de la Reconquista.Aprovechando esa oportunidad,un navegante inteligente se presentó ante los Reyes Católitos de España y les explicó su plan. Se llamaba Cristóbal Colón y [b]se mostraba [/b]tan firme en su creencia que logró convencer a los reyes.Éstos le encargaron la pequeña flota que, con su viaje, abriría una nueva época en la historia del mundo.

This text is from my book, I wonder why it's como China y la India, why in front of China without la, but with India then added la?

You can say viene de La China y de la Conchinchina, but other than in that example, La China is no longer being used. La India is. There's no sense fighting this. These are language conventions that evolve with usage over the years.. - francobollo, Dec 18, 2012