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B2 Grammar Guide • 12 Minutes

The + describing word for groups: the poor, the French, the British

Learn how to talk about a whole group of people, like the poor, or a whole nation, like the British, with the word the.

i How to use this lesson

For the Teacher

Walk students through the four rules in the table during the first four minutes.

Use the automatic answer checks in the twelve practice tasks to review common errors together.

For the Student

First study the four table rules and notice how the underlined words work in each sentence.

Next answer all twelve questions below to build confidence with real exam sentences.

Four Rules for Group Words

Learn these first

The + describing word means a whole group: the poor

Put the before a describing word like poor, rich or homeless. It then means all the people like that. Do not add -s: the word stays the same. Say "the poor", not "the poors".

• The poor often feel price rises first.

• The homeless need a warm place to sleep in winter.

Use the plural action word: the poor are, the poor need

A group word with the means many people together. So use the action word you use for they: they need, they are. Do not use the one for it. Say "the hungry need food", not "the hungry needs food".

• The unemployed get free advice at the local centre.

• The hungry receive free food from the school.

Whole nations: the French, the Chinese, the Germans

Use the and a nationality word to mean all the people of one country. Words that end in -sh, -ch, -ese or -ss get no -s: the Spanish, the French, the Chinese, the Swiss. Most other nationality words take -s: the Germans, the Italians. Say "the Italians", not "the Italian".

• At the meeting, the French and the Germans shared ideas for helping people without a home.

• The Swiss and the Chinese gave money to help poor families.

One person: add man, woman or person

The pattern with the is only for a whole group. To talk about one person, add a person word like man, woman or person. Say "a homeless woman", not "a homeless".

• A homeless woman gave a talk at our school about life without a home.

• An elderly man got help to pay his rent.

Practice Exercises

12 Questions

Type 1

Choose the correct sentence

1. Which sentence describes the group correctly?

(form)

____ The poors face terrible hardship during winter ____ The poor face terrible hardship during winter ____ Poors face terrible hardship during winter

2. Which sentence uses the correct action word for the group?

(plural)

____ The homeless receives weekly food assistance ____ The homeless receive weekly food assistance ____ A homeless receive weekly food assistance

3. Which sentence correctly speaks about a single person?

(noun)

____ The charity helped an unemployed find a new job ____ The charity helped an unemployed man find a new job ____ The charity helped a unemployed man find a new job

Type 2

Rewrite the sentence with the + adjective

4. Rewrite replacing "Young people" with the young:

(group)

"Young people struggle to pay rent in expensive cities."

____ (Type the full rewritten sentence...)

5. Rewrite replacing "Wealthy households" with the wealthy:

(verb)

"Wealthy households provide a generous donation to fight poverty."

____ (Type the full rewritten sentence...)

6. Rewrite replacing "Disabled people" with the disabled:

(word)

"Disabled people need urgent assistance after eviction."

____ (Type the full rewritten sentence...)

Type 3

Fill the gaps

7. Type the nationality word for people from Spain:

(nation)

Both the British and the ____ offered a relief grant to tackle hunger.

8. Type the nationality word for people from Italy:

(plural)

The French and the ____ created an aid package for poor households.

9. Type the correct present form of the verb in the hint:

(suffering)

During an economic crisis the hungry ____ the most from rising food prices.

Type 4

Correct the error in a short message

10. Replace the underlined error with the correct two-word phrase:

(noun)

"Hi Paul! Yesterday I met a homeless who needed urgent food assistance."

Corrected phrase: ____ (Type the corrected phrase)

11. Correct the underlined word for the group:

(form)

"Our school is collecting a donation for the homelesses after the eviction."

Corrected group word: ____ (Type correct word...)

12. Correct the underlined verb to agree with the group noun:

(verb)

"The elderly in our town needs an emergency heating grant to stop hardship."

Corrected verb: ____ (Type correct verb...)

The + Adjective for Groups: The Poor, The French

The + describing word for groups: the poor, the French, the British

i How to use this lesson

Four Rules for Group Words

The + describing word means a whole group: the poor

Use the plural action word: the poor are, the poor need

Whole nations: the French, the Chinese, the Germans

One person: add man, woman or person

Practice Exercises

Choose the correct sentence

Rewrite the sentence with the + adjective

Fill the gaps

Correct the error in a short message

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