[ppl11]

Could you tell if this is correct? Why sometimes the names of schools, museums and churches have the definite article while the others have not?

Kazimierz Wielki Primary School in Przedbórz

John Paul II Junior High School in Przedbórz

Folk Land Museum in Przedbórz

Church of Saint Alex in Przedbórz

Should I use "the" before the names? There is no "official name" in these cases (I mean whether is with "the" or not). What would you use?
I know that with "of" phrases the article "the" is used but I also found a confusing case:
In wikipedia there is the name:

the Johns Hopkins University

but on their website there is:

Johns Hopkins University

Could you explain this?

[susan53]

Normally, when a place name starts with the name of a person - eg John Hopkins University - or of a place - eg Lancaster University - the article is omitted. on the other hand, if it starts with the noun (or adjective/noun) and/or includes the noun plus "of" - eg the University of Lancaster - it is included.

So normal usage would be :

Kazimierz Wielki Primary School in Przedbórz

John Paul II Junior High School in Przedbórz

Saint Paul's Cathedral

John Hopkins University

but

The Folk Museum in Przedbórz

The Church of Saint Alex in Przedbórz

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

If you follow these rules, you'll always be correct, even if certain institutions do break them idiosyncratically.

[ppl11]

Thank you for the answer! What if a name starts with town's or city's name?

Przedbórz Land Folk Museum
or
the Przedbórz Land Folk Museum

[susan53]

Either. If it's seen as a compound noun made up of noun+noun, then usually no article - Lancaster University, Oxford Street, Przedbórz Folk Museum

But if it's seen as an adjective premodifying a noun, an article may be used : The London Eye, The Suez Canal, the Przedbórz Folk Museum.

With famous places and names that are originally in English, the usage has usually become standardised - as with eg the Suez Canal, the London Eye. With less famous places, if they've never been translated before, it could be either.

[ppl11]

Thank you. What about the statues?
I assume that with "of" phrase "the" is used, for example:
the Mermaid of Warsaw
what about these examples, which one is correct and why?:
Warsaw Mermaid Statue
or
the Warsaw Mermaid Statue?

Are you more likely to use:
I saw the Przedbórz Land Folk Museum.
or
I saw Przedbórz Land Folk Museum.
is the second option also correct?

[susan53]

As I said above - either. If it's seen as a compound noun made up of noun+noun, then usually no article - Lancaster University, Oxford Street, Przedbórz Folk Museum

But if it's seen as an adjective premodifying a noun, an article may be used : The London Eye, The Suez Canal, the Przedbórz Folk Museum.

The same with statues. It's not the building/object that makes the difference but the use of the proper noun in front of it.

[Beatrix]

Your help is invaluable and your explanations always super clear. They help us clarify even those things we thought we knew. Thank you, Susan.