28 Jun 12 13:39, alexander koryagin wrote to Roy Witt:

 ak>>>>> Quite often I see that people call this planet "Earth", whereas I
 ak>>>>> read it must be called "the Earth". Maybe there is a rule?

 RW>> Look up the definition of 'the' in an English dictionary ... there
 RW>> are several ways in which to use the word. One that fits your 'the
 RW>> earth' scenario is:

 RW>> The, determiner (article): used preceding titles and certain
 RW>> uniquely specific or proper nouns, such as place names; the United
 RW>> States; the Honourable Edward Brown; the Chairman; the moon, the
 RW>> Earth...

 RW>> i.e. Earth is the name (noun) of the planet that you live on.
 RW>>      Mars is the name (noun) of a planet in this solar system.

 ak> Yes, but when your dictionary enumerates the planet names it uses
 ak> "the Earth". (begins with a capital letter). "the earth" is also all
 ak> right, but it is IMHO a different term. For instance, "The earth was
 ak> very close, and the pilot baled out."

If you look up 'earth' in the dictionary, it decribes differences in the
use of the word, some capped and some not capped.

If you're speaking of the Earth as a subject, it is a noun and a capital E
is supposed to be used. Meanwhile earth with a small case e may be just
plain old dirt in a sentence like: "the earth shook for several minutes"


                R\%/itt


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