For example why people use "Island of Jamaica" and "Macquarie Island". The latter doesn't use any preposition. When the preposition should be used and when not?
Asked
Active
Viewed 498 times
0
-
1related, possbile duplicate: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/131805/isle-vs-island – Kit Z. Fox Dec 31 '13 at 21:52
-
Don't we already have questions about "University of X vs X University" and "City of Y vs Y City"? – GEdgar Dec 31 '13 at 22:38
-
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. You might be interested in our sister site, English Language Learners; you can find it here. It is very helpful in answering basic questions. – anongoodnurse Dec 31 '13 at 23:51
-
The suggested duplicate doesn't address the use of *of*. I proposed what might be a general rule in another question/answer. – Andrew Leach Jan 01 '14 at 18:12
1 Answers
1
We use The Isle of X when that is its name in English: The Isle of Man, The Isle of Dogs, The Isle of Capri.
We use X Island when that is its name in English: Canvey Island, Vancouver Island, Holy Island.
We use just the simple name when that is its name in English: Guernsey, Anglesey, Crete; but for clarity we can use the descriptive phrase "The island of" in these cases.
There are some islands where there are alternative names: Manhattan or Manhattan Island; but in many cases, the name used is fixed as one of the three forms above.
I'm afraid you just have to learn which islands have which form of name.
Colin Fine
- 77,173