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I'm editing a children's book about wonders of the World. In this book, the authors are not native speakers(they are XACT BOOK(India)), and they wrote these specific places without article "the":

-It is Taj Mahal.

-It is Tower of Pisa.

At first, I thought it's okay, but there are some pages has article "the":

-It is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

-It is the Temple of Artemis.

These sentences really make me confused. After researching, this website-https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ - gives me some advice:

Do use the before:

names of rivers, oceans, and seas: the Nile, the Pacific

points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole

geographical areas: the Middle East, the West deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula

Unfortunately, I'm still not sure that adding "the" before each wonder's name is a right choice. Should I add article "the" or not? I already posted this problem in another website, but I'm still in vain.

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I'm afraid, if you are looking for a rule, you may not get one especially when it comes to having the article before some monuments/buildings.

Articles are annoying! And, for some topics, you just need to learn them as they are practiced. And, that's it! You just touched the topic which should be learned as you read more and more authentic sources.

BBC explains this:

When it comes to buildings, it is more difficult to see a pattern emerging. It is more a case of Learn It. Compare the following:

The Eiffel Tower and the Tower of London are two landmarks in the capital cities of France and Britain.

If you come to London, be sure to visit Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

Where's Charing Cross station?~ It's off Trafalgar Square, between the Post Office and Coutts Bank in the Strand.

So, when recently Zuckerberg visited India, he did visit The Taj Mahal (Ignore the headlines, it does not have the article because of 'headlinese')

And, it is The (Leaning) Tower of Pisa.

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    "Learn it"? - does it mean "learn by heart"? p/s: Thanks for your information.
    – Sour Tofu
    Commented Oct 29, 2015 at 6:51
  • Articles must be difficult for you indeed, I think. It's a little sad that even with good references and examples, you still got the capitalization of the wrong.
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Nov 2, 2015 at 22:41

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