The Iraq. The Iran. The Ukraine.

33 comments

  1. >the iraq

    nobody does this

    >the iran

    nobody does this

    >the ukraine

    because that’s what it was called for a long long time when it wasn’t a real country

  2. Haven’t ever heard “The Iraq” or “The Iran,” but from what I understand, “The Ukraine” stuck back when it was part of the USSR and it was referred to as “The Ukrainian SSR.” Americans didn’t really make a mental update on that until recently I suppose.

  4. When a territory isn’t a nation it’s the. Iraq was practically not a nation for a while and Ukraine was a territory for the entirety of American history up to 1991.

    Never heard anyone say the Iran nor the Iraq.

  7. I don’t think this is an american thing..

    for example in german: “Der Irak, der Iran, die Ukraine”, all have an article

    edit: other countries where an article is used in german: Netherlands, Switzerland, Vatican, Slovakia, Phillipines, Turkey, Bahamas, United Arab Emirates, aaaand… USA

  9. Nobody says the first two, that’s not even proper English.

    The Ukraine is how Ukraine was previously referred to during the period when the USSR controlled the territory that is now Ukraine. It’s the Russian name for the region, and is still in use among those who lived through the Cold War and who haven’t shaken the habit across both Russia itself and the entirety of the English speaking world.

  11. It seems French does that as a hard rule. La France, Les Etas Unis, L’Angleterre, etc. So maybe some influence there? But even in English, it’s *the* United States or *the* US of A.

    I haven’t heard someone mess up Iraq or Iran, but places that sound more like geographical regions than a government probably trips up our less geographically studied citizens as well. Applying grammatical rules to Ukraine as if it were the Great Plains or the Crimean Mountains.

  12. Well, interesting question. Nobody I know calls it “the Iraq” or “the Iran”, but we do call Ukraine “the Ukraine” and I have no idea why. “The” is a really weird qualifier. When I was a kid we had one of those giant family dictionaries you had to buy a stand just to sit it on, and in it the definition of the word “The” took up an entire page. These were old school dictionary definitions where you are not allowed to use the word in the definition of the word you were defining so it was very… Weird like that. Probably one of the reasons I named myself after it.

  14. I knew the moment I saw your post that you had seen Kaitlyn Upton LOL Nobody says ‘the’ like that. Thats why it was so funny. Ditzy blonde.

  16. If a plural is involved, or islands, it is a “the” . “the federation of….” , “the united….”. So implied plurals. “The” Ukraine used to be an area of USSR, like “the Urals” “The” Bahàmas”Islands. “The “Maldives.

    It is “THE Russian Federatiin” but just Russia if not the addition gederation plural.

  17. I’ve never heard “The Iraq” or “The Iran”. I have heard “The Hellenic Republic” when referred to Greece, but never “The Greece”.

    The countries that have a “The” article in front have either a plural name (The Netherland*s*, The Bahama*s*, The United State*s*) or are referring to their technical name (The United Kingdom as opposed to Great Britain or Britain).

  18. Well, in the case of “The Gambia” and “The Philippines” because they want us to.

  19. I’m Australian but I’m pretty sure the vast majority of english speakers including Americans don’t put “the” in front on Iraq or Iran. But “The Ukraine,” used to be the proper way to talk about Ukraine in English. Same thing now with the Philippines, the UK, the USA, it’d be technically incorrect to NOT put “the” in front of them.

  20. Ive never heard “the Iran” or “the Iraq” maybe youre seeing other languages translated? I believe in other languages (german) this is common place. The only time i can think of it being used, at least correctly, is in context of it being grammatically correct. Countries whose name is pluralized “the netherlands” “the phillipenes” “the united states” or an abbreviation is being used “the uk” “the uae” “the usa” etc.

  21. I’ve never heard anyone say “The Iraq” or “The Iran”. *Ever.*

    I’ve heard Britons call Lebanon “The Lebanon”, though, go ask them.

  22. I have never once heard anyone say “the Iraq” or “the Iran”. “The Ukraine” isn’t an American thing, it’s the Soviet term from the Cold War because Ukraine wasn’t an independent state, it was a region of the USSR

  23. It’s a colloquialism. As others have said, it has to do with plurals. The United States vs America. The UK, The Netherlands, etc. The Roman Republic. When the country is a collection of provinces, states, islands, etc, we tend to add “the”.

    If Canada was Canadas or Provinces of Canada we’d add “the” 🙂

    I think the Ukraine is short for “The republic of Ukraine” I think that’s what it was under the USSR (“the” USSR). We never got around to changing it until recently.

  24. The countries I have ever heard of the before are The Gambia, The Bahamas, The Netherlands, The United _______, The Ukraine, and The ________ Islands.

    I cannot think of any others ATM.

  25. Well, Ukraine gets it because for a lot of the older generations, Ukraine’s proper name was indeed “The Ukraine”. It’s only relatively recently that “The” was dropped from the name. And before 2014, Ukraine was a relatively unknown country and almost every media appearance had it called “The Ukraine”. So the older and newer generations call it “The Ukraine” because that’s all they’ve ever called it.

    As for Iran and Iraq… this is literally the first time I have ever heard someone add “The” to their names.

  26. I have never ever EVER heard anyone say “The Iraq” or “The Iran” before. That doesn’t even sound natural. Where the heck did you hear that?

  27. I’ve never heard it for Iraq or Iran in my 30+ years of life. I think you’re mistaken maybe? Please point out examples if I’m wrong.

    Not sure about Ukraine. I’ve heard it growing up but can’t explain why. I’m sure it goes back to when it was a soviet territory.

  28. I’ve never heard an American say “The Iraq” or “The Iran.”

    You’ll usually use a “the” when the name of the nation is plural in some way, like The Bahamas, The Philippines, The Netherlands, The United States of America. Or if the name includes a description of some kind, ie the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or The People’s Republic of Korea.

    Then there’s the case of The Yukon, which I think got it’s “the” from being “The Yukon Territories.” If I understand correctly, Ukraine was once called The Ukraine Region or something similar when it was a part of the USSR. So you’d say “It’s in The Ukraine” the same way you’d say “It’s in the Urals.”

  29. I’ve never heard Iran or Iraq referred to like that. I think Ukraine has historically been referred as such when it was part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. The only other examples that I can think of are The Netherlands and The Philippines, and the UK. I’m sure there are a few more, but they don’t come easily to my mind.

  30. We sometimes say The Ukraine. I think adopted from the English who put “The” in front of many countries—primarily Eastern European or Middle Eastern. Never heard The Iraq or The Iran. The Netherlands. The Philippines, The Maldives, the UK, the US yes.

    But all are countries with “the” in their name. The Falklands.

  31. Never heard Iraq or Iran referred to with a “the” before. My understanding is that Ukraine having a “the” is an artifact from when it was a region of the USSR rather than an independent state and has dropped out of popular use. The USSR gets a “the” because of the grammar of referring to the phrase that it stands for. The United Kingdom gets similar treatment. Doesn’t make much grammatical sense to say just “United Kingdom” so it gets a “the” even when it is abbreviated as “the UK”.

    The only one I can’t explain is the Netherlands. No idea why it gets a “the”, it just does.

  32. You’re confusing country with populace. The Iranian, The Iraqis , The Pakistanis, followed by a statement

    THE proceeds a group in some cases. Per nations.. no EXCEPT when describing an island chain. The Canary islands. The Maldives.

    Seems like your watching American movies made in The India:)

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