Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end
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Gapped text | Items |
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What ______________________ nice people! | the / a / an / -- |
The elderly ______________________ a lot of money in health care | spend / spends |
______________________ Irish have a different accent | The / -- / The Irishes / Irishes / The Irish people |
______________________ have many problems to find a job now | The young / Young / Youngs / The youngs |
You must check this counter three times ______________________ day | in / for the / in the / the / for a / a |
There's no rest for ______________________ (weary = tired) | the weary / the wearies |
______________________ are always on time | Germans / The German |
______________________ had a new baby | King and the queen / The king and queen / The king and the queen / King and queen |
______________________ are very polite | Britishes / The British / The British people / The Britishes |
What ______________________ interesting animals! | -- / the / a / an |
What ______________________ white milk! | a / the / an / -- |
We meet once ______________________ year | for / an / for the / the / a / for a |
I've got a friend ______________________ in Dorset | and a cousin / and cousin |
What ______________________ hot tea! | a / -- / an / the |
______________________ are very warm | The Spanish people / The Spanish / Spanish people |
______________________ dad live down the street | Mum and my / My mum and / My mum and my |
______________________ are very friendly | Spaniards / The Spanish |
What ______________________ noisy children! | an / -- / a / the |
He always drives at 100 kilometres ______________________ hour | -- / the / an / a |
What ______________________ nice day! | a / the / -- |
She brought comfort to ______________________ | sick / the sick / sicks / the sicks |
It's three pounds ______________________ | the kilo / the kilos / a kilo |
This light flashes three times ______________________ second | a / every the / for the / in the / the / at a |
______________________ sister are on a trip | My father and my / My father and the / My father and |
It was a terrible accident, but the injured ______________________ better | are / is |
You're not coming? Oh, what ______________________ pity! | a / an / -- / the |
I need ______________________ knife and ______________________ fork | an / -- / an / the / -- / a / a / the |
What ______________________ strange man! | -- / the / a |
In our society there is a problem between ______________________ and ______________________ | the rich / the riches / the poor / the poors / the poor people / the rich people |
I see him once ______________________ year | -- / a / the / in the / every the / an |
______________________ ______________________ very poor people | Homelesses / is / are / The homeless |
What ______________________ dirty shirt! | the / a / -- |
What ______________________ cold weather! | the / a / -- / an |
That is a special law for ______________________ | the disabled / the disableds / disableds |
We visit my grandmother twice ______________________ week | a / -- / the / an |
What ______________________ excellent wine! | the / -- / a / an |
What ______________________ horrible car! | -- / the / a |
They dine out three times ______________________ month | for / the / every the / for a / a / -- / every a |
SPECIAL USES OF "THE"
THE + adjectives
We use THE with adjectives to talk about general groups of people having that quality (you don’t need a noun). In this case we use a plural verb.
- The young = the young people
- The homeless are specially vulnerable in winter
- Do you think the rich should pay more taxes to help the poor?
More common examples: the young / the old / the elderly / the poor / the unemployed / the homeless / the sick / the disabled / the injured / the dead
We also use this same construction with some nationality adjectives with no equivalent noun:
- The British are worried about violence in schools
- There was a conflict between the English and the Welsh
Other nationalities have a noun, so they don't use that construction:
- Germans are interested in new markets (not: The German are...)
- Russians have a very complicated history
- Spaniards have one of the best public health systems in the world
SPECIAL USES OF "A"
We use A meaning "per" (distributive)
- That’s two pounds a kilo = that's two pounds per kilo (every kilo is two pounds, so 3 kilos is 6 pounds)
- He was driving at sixty miles an hour
- I go to the cinema twice a month (= two times every month)
Before singular count nouns in exclamations.
- What a day! (countable singular)
- What a pretty girl! (countable singular)
but:
- What nice weather! (uncountable)
- What pretty girls! (countable plural)
exception: What a pity! (uncountable)
We often suppress the article (or possessive) after the conjunction "and" in a pair of things that often go together.
- I need a knife and fork
- He went out with a raincoat and umbrella
- Those are the king and queen
- My uncle and aunt came to visit me
but:
- I found a hat and a camera in the car (not: a hat and camera)