Korean Job Discussion Forums

[raewon]

I have an article question:

The Golden Gate Bridge is longer than Tower Bridge.

Why does "The" appear before "Golden Gate Bridge" but not before "Tower Bridge"? Isn't Tower Bridge specific and always referring to the one in London? I checked the official Tower Bridge site... but no article is used.

What do you think?

Thanks.

[edwardcatflap]

There are rules for articles with most proper nouns but there are lots of anomalies as well. Not sure if there's an initial rule for bridges as there seem to be lots of examples both way. e.g. London Bridge, The Severn Road Bridge, The Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs, Tower Bridge, Millenium Bridge, Westminster Bridge to name a few British ones. I'd teach it as a lexical chunk.