Why is it called "THE" Philippines, not simply Philippines?

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The answer ----> English plurality rules.

Use "the" if the name of the country is plural or indicates a group (of states, islands, etc.)

Examples:

The Philippines (group of islands)
The United States (group of states)
The USSR (group of republics)

The Peoples Republic of China (plural)
China (singular, so you can't use "the")

jedi_rei

i dont understand why answers connected to grammar are given a lot of thumbs down. that is the only rational answer to this question.

coffeeprincess

dont wanna get redundant... so...

yeah, they're all right... =)

Pinoy

The complete name of the Philippines is "Republic of the Philippines." I have several explanations for that depending on usage: (1) The sound of the first syllable of the word "Philippines" requires an article. For instance, you say, "I bought this from Malaysia" but not, "I bought this from Philippines." For the sentence to be grammatically correct, you must say "I bought this from the Philippines." In the same manner, you say "I live in Malaysia" and "I live in the Philippines." (3) When you say "The Philippines" or "The Republic of the Philippines," you acknowledge that fact that Philippines as composed by several components or islands but would like to refer to all of them. Without the article "the," you refer to the Philippines as a single entity or whole. So, it some sentences, with or without "the" are both acceptable. For example, "Philippines is a southeast Asian country," and "The Philippines was once ruled by the Spaniards."

marcelino angelo

"The Philippines" was derived from its more complete name, "The Philippine Islands".

It was the English translation of the Spanish name, "Islas Filipinas", named after King Philip II of Spain.

So, you use the article, "the" to introduce "Philippines", since it means "The Philippine Islands".

CHOCO CRUNCHIES

Just like THE Netherlands!

The Philippines is composed of 7, 107 islands making it an archipelago. People add 'the' because the country is not a single chunk of land.

Aref H4

Very simple. There are those who would like to pretend they are the Philippines, when they are not. It is to protect the turf, make it unique. So many would like to usurp the title, but there is only one Philippines.

Replace

The correct term is The Phillipine Islands.

rpv_mark

because "the philippines" sounds and looks more grammatically correct i believe...

than plain "philippines"...

especially when the country is an archipelago of more than seven thousand islands that is why the name of the country is usually connoted as "the philippine islands"

Rich_

It's for the same reason you don't say "United States" or "Caribbean". It's just proper grammer.

Papa Chuck

It depends on how you say it. You could also say "the United States".

the italian idol

this was asked many times. because its THE philippine ISLANDS. THE relates to THE ISLANDS not Philippine or Philippines. example, The bad Questions are driving me nuts. The Questions, not the bad.

lovingfeet01

It's called "THE" Philippines mainly because it's an archipelago, a group of islands. Just like "The Carribean".

Linus

Actually, in the early days, the country is called "the Philippine Islands". Now, in practice, it is simply the Philippines. Try using it in a sentence and you will observe that it will always be preceded by the word "the".

sweet water

The definite article "the" is used here to mark a plural noun that refers to a specific place, e.g., the United States, the Azores, etc.

i go loony

bacause it is a country that has thousands of islands and that is the same fact it is known for. Used to be called as the Philippine Islands and now it is the Philippines to shorten a name..

Grammar-wise, a group of something when given a name, we include the article, 'the'.. Therefore:

The Carribeans - group of islands somewhere
the Cordilleras - ranges of mounatins
the United States of America - a country with many states
the United Kingdom - a country with four subconstituents
Australia and the Oceania - Australia and other countries nearby as a continent

Laughteraddict

It is shortened from the phillipine islands, and cos therres more than one they keep the.

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