From: "alexander koryagin"    
      
   F2EP   
   Hi, Roy Witt! How are you?   
   on Friday, 29 of June, I read your message to alexander koryagin   
   about "Earth or the Earth"   
      
      
   [skipped]   
      
    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."   
      
    RW> If you look up 'earth' in the dictionary, it decribes differences in   
    RW> the use of the word, some capped and some not capped.   
      
    RW> If you're speaking of the Earth as a subject, it is a noun and a   
    RW> capital E is supposed to be used. Meanwhile earth with a small case e   
    RW> may be just plain old dirt in a sentence like: "the earth shook for   
    RW> several minutes"   
      
      
   I looked at the article about "earth" in my dictionary (Longman), and it says:   
   =========Beginning of the citation==============   
   earth [transcription] 1 (the) uncountable (often cap.) the world on which we   
   live: They return successfully from the moon to (the) Earth.   
   =========The end of the citation================   
      
   Most likely, it all means that there is not any rule on this account, and   
   using "the" before Earth is optional. Well, indeed, it is very probably. After   
   all, Englishmen don't use definite articles before names. And when we write   
   "Earth" we imply that it is a name of the planet. Technically, there is no any   
   need to use a definite article.   
      
   In general situation is funny. Englishmen think that Mars, Jupiter, etc are   
   planet names. That is why they don't use "the" before them. But when they   
   speak of the sun, the moon, the e(E)arth it doesn't look that we have deal   
   with names. And many people use "the" despite the fact that each of the   
   mentioned objects are unique.   
      
   [...There is no two identical nose-prints among cats]   
   Bye Roy!   
   Alexander (yAlexKo[]yandex.ru) + 2:5020/2140.91   
   fido7.english-tutor 2012    
      
      
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