Most of the time, the principle is simple in French: we (almost) always accompany the names of countries with a definite article. Whether it’s a “la”, a “le”, or even “les” or “l’”. So much so that we don’t just say France, but France. And the same goes for Italy, Canada, the Netherlands… In short, we don’t teach you anything.
That’s all for today, done, good evening? This would mean knowing the French language poorly, which loves to give us migraines. Because in the middle of all these countries flanked by proud determinants hide… exceptions. Orphan states with a definite article, a little on the margins of the others. And there are many of them.
Cuba, Israel, Haiti, Monaco, Singapore, Taiwan, Cyprus, Madagascar… At this rate, these states without a determinant are no longer really exceptions, but constitute a rule in their own right. But what rule are we talking about exactly? Why do some countries not have a definite article in French?
A history of use (and a little size)
If you look closely, there is not one, but many explanations to this question. And for good reason, there is no single rule which justifies the absence of an article. Most of the time, maps, diplomatic texts and everyday language have fixed the uses, which have become established over time, becoming linguistic conventions.
If it was absolutely necessary to sort through all this confusion, we could still group certain countries without a defined article into groups. For example, many of them are actually used in their short form, which is a departure from their somewhat long official name. This is the case of Haiti, which is in truth the Republic of Haiti. The same for Monaco, which is none other than the Principality of Monaco. In these specific cases, the short form without a determiner has become established over time, making use simpler and more fluid.
That’s not all. Very often, the geographical or morphological criterion of a territory can influence the use of the article, or its absence. Many countries without an article are actually islands or very small territories: Bahrain, Djibouti, Malta, Oman, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Trinidad and Tobago, Vanuatu, among other examples. Very often, they are considered to be proper names of unique places, a sort of “city-country” which does not need an article to be identified, as is the case for Singapore. Imagine that Paris and its surroundings were a state: you would not call it “la Paris” or “le Paris”. Are you following?
Israel, a special case
The case of Israel is a bit special, because Israel is first an anthroponym, that is to say a personal name, before becoming a people’s name, then a state name.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Israel is in fact the Hebrew name given to the patriarch Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. It means “one who wrestled with God” and his descendants become the Israelites. When the modern Hebrew state was founded in 1948, the Jews took up this symbolic name (Eretz Yisrael“Land of Israel” in Hebrew).
Israel having been a man, the Hebrew State keeps the masculine gender and is named without a defined article, like a first name. A particularity also reinforced during the British mandate over the region, since in English we do not use an article before the name of a country. The French translators therefore followed this standard for Israel, until it was validated by the Foreign Affairs Committee, in charge of deciding. If you are not satisfied with one of these uses, it is therefore to her that you should complain.
