a) Every sem ester parents are invited to th e sc h o o l to m eet the teachers. b) W hy aren’t your children in sc h o o l today? Are they sick?
c) W h e n he was younger, Ted h a te d ______________________ .
d) W h at time d o e s _____________________ usually start in your country? e) A: H ow do your children get hom e f r o m ? By bus?
B: N o, they w a lk .______________________isn’t very far away.
f) W h at sort o f jo b does Jenny w ant to do w hen she fin ish es.
g) T here were some people waiting o u ts id e _____________________ to m eet their children.
2. (college)
a) In your country, do m any people go t o _____________________ ?
b) T he Smiths have four children i n at the same time.
c) This is only a small tow n, b u t ______________________is one o f the best in the country. 3. (ch u rch )
a) Jo h n ’s m other is a regular churchgoer. She goes t o ______________________every Sunday. b) Jo h n him self doesn’t go t o ______________________ .
c) Jo h n w ent t o _____________________ to take some pictures o f the building. 4. (class)
a) The professor isn’t in his office at this time. H e ’s in .
b) The teacher a sk e d ______________________to tu rn off their cell phones. c) I’ll get a new spaper on my way t o ______________________this afternoon. d) N o t even the best student i n _____________________ could answer the question. 5. (p riso n )
a) In some places people are i n _____________________ because o f their political beliefs. b) A few days ago, the fire departm ent was called t o to p u t out a fire. c) The judge decided to fine the m an $500 instead o f sending him t o ___________________. 6. ( h o m e /w o r k /b e d )
a) I like to read i n _____________________ before I go to sleep. b) It’s nice to travel around, but th ere’s no place like .
c) Should we m eet a f te r ______________________tom orrow ? d) If I’m feeling tired, I go t o ______________________ early.
e) W h at tim e do you usually s ta r t ______________________ in the m orning? f) T he econom ic situation was very bad. M any people were out o f _______
The 3 (children / the children)
W h e n we are talking about things or people in general, we do not use th e: ■ I’m afraid o f do gs. (not the dogs)
(dogs = dogs in general, no t a specific group o f dogs) ■ D o c to r s are paid m ore than te a c h e rs.
■ D o you collect stam p s?
■ C r im e is a problem in m ost big cities, (not T he crime) ■ L ife has changed a lot in the last 30 years, (not T he life) ■ D o you like classica l m u s ic / C h in e s e fo o d / fa st cars? ■ My favorite sport is f o o tb a ll/s k iin g /h o c k e y .
■ My favorite subject at school was h is to r y /p h y s ic s /E n g lis h . We say “m o s t people / m o s t books / m o s t cars,” etc. (not the m o s t. . .):
■ M o st h o te ls accept credit cards, (not T he m ost hotels) W e use th e w hen we m ean specific things or people. Com pare:
In general (w ithout the)
■ C h ild r e n learn from playing. (= children in general) ■ I couldn’t live w ith out m u sic. ■ All ca rs have wheels.
■ S u g a r isn’t very good for you.
■ D o A m e r ic a n s drink m uch tea? (= Americans in general)
Specific people or things (with the)
■ W e took th e c h ild r e n to the zoo. (= a specific group, perhaps the speaker’s children)
■ T he movie w asn’t very good, bu t I lik ■ th e m u sic . (= the m usic in the m o w . ■ All th e c a rs in this parking lot belong
people w ho w ork here.
■ C an you pass th e su g a r, please? (= the sugar on the table)
■ D o th e A m e ric a n s y o u k n o w drinl (= only the Am ericans you know, nc Am ericans in general)
T he difference betw een “som ething in general’ Com pare:
In general (w ithout th e)
■ I like w orking w ith p e o p le . (= people in general)
■ I like w orking w ith p e o p le w h o are lively, (not all people, bu t “people w ho are lively” is still a general idea) ■ D o you like coffee? (= coffee in
general)
■ D o you like s tr o n g b la c k coffee? (not all coffee, but “strong black coffee” is still a general idea)
and “som ething specific” is no t always clear
Specific people or things (with th e)
I like th e p e o p le I w o r k w ith . (= a specific group o f people)
D id you like th e c o ffe e w e h a d after d i n n e r la st n ig h t? (= specific coffee
ysefour of these things and write whether you like them or not:
b o x in g cats fa st fo o d r e s ta u ra n ts f o o tb a ll h o t w e a th e r m a d i o p e r a sm a ll c h ild re n ro c k m u s ic z o o s
Sec n each sentence with one of these:
I lik e . . . / I d o n ’t lik e . . . I d o n ’t m i n d . . .
I love . . . / I h a te . . . I ’m in te re s te d in . . . / I ’m n o t in te re s te d in . V / don t like h o t w e a th e r v e r y much.______________________________________
ises
U N I T
71
:>~plete the sentences using the following. Use the where necessary.
e)-h a sk e tb a ll (the) g rass (the) p a tie n c e (the) p e o p le -(the) in f o r m a t i o n
(the) s p id e rs (the) m e a t
(the) w a te r
b a s k e tb a ll .
_ we were given w asn’t correct. the) q u e s tio n s
■the) h is to r y My favorite sport is
he in fo rm a tio n
Some people are afraid o f _______________ A vegetarian is som ebody w ho doesn’t e a t . The test w asn’t very difficult. I answered _ any trouble.
Do you k n o w _
(the) h o te ls (the) lies
w ho live next door?
w ithout
________ is the study o f the past. George always tells the truth. He never te lls ______
We couldn’t find anyw here to stay dow ntow n. A ll. . were D on’t sit o n .
You need __
full. in the pool didn’t look very clean, so we didn’t go swimming. ____________ . It’s w et from the rain.
to teach young children.
nose the correct form, with or without the.
I’m afraid o f dogs / th e dogs . (dogs is correct)
Can you pass -salt-/ the salt, please? (the salt is correct) pples / T he apples are good for you.
Look at apples / the apples on that tree! T hey’re very big. W om en / The w om en live longer than m en / the m en . 4 I don’t drink tea / the tea. I don ’t like it.
We had a very good meal. Vegetables / T he vegetables w ere especially good. Life / T he life is strange som etim es. Some very strange things happen. • I like skiing / the skiing, bu t I’m n o t very good at it.
W ho are people / the people in this photograph?
W hat makes people / the people violent? W h a t causes aggression / the aggression? ill b oks / All the books on the top shelf belong to me.
D on’t stay in that hotel. It’s very noisy and beds / the beds are very uncom fortable. A pacifist is som ebody w ho is against w ar / the w ar.
First \Vorld W ar / T he First W orld W ar lasted from 1914 until 1918. I’d like to go to Egypt and see Pyramids / the Pyram ids.
Som eone gave m e a book about history / the history of m od ern art / the m odern art. Ron and B renda got m arried, bu t m arriage / the m arriage didn’t last very long. M ost people / T he m ost people believe that m arriage / the m arriage and tamily life / the family life are the basis o f society / the society.
The 4 (the giraffe / the telephone /
the piano, etc.; the + Adjective)
Study these sentences:
■ T h e g ira ffe is the tallest o f all animals.
■ T h e b ic y c le is an excellent means o f transportation. ■ W h en was th e te le p h o n e invented?
■ T h e d o lla r is the currency (= the m oney) o f the U nited States. In these examples, th e . . . does not m ean one specific thing.
T h e g ira ffe = a specific type o f animal, not a specific giraffe. W e use th e (+ singular countable noun) in this way to talk about a type o f animal, machine, etc.
In the same way we use th e for musical instrum ents: ■ C an you play th e guitar?
■ T h e piano is my favorite instrum ent. Com pare a and th e:
■ I’d like to have a p ia n o . but I can’t play th e p ia n o .
■ W e saw a g ira ffe at the zoo. but T h e g ira ffe is my favorite animal. N ote that we use m a n (= hum an beings in general / the hum an race) w ith ou t th e:
■ W h at do you know about the origins o f m a n ? (not the man) T h e + adjective
W e use th e + adjective (w ithout a noun) to talk about groups of people, especially:
th e y o u n g th e r ic h th e sick th e b lin d th e in ju re d th e o ld th e p o o r th e d isa b le d th e d e a f th e d e a d th e e ld e rly th e h o m e le s s th e u n e m p lo y e d
T h e y o u n g = young people, th e r ic h = rich people, etc.: ■ D o you think th e r ic h should pay higher taxes?
■ T he governm ent has prom ised to provide m ore m oney to help th e h o m e le ss. These expressions are always plural in m eaning. For example, you cannot say “a young” or “the injured” for one person. You m ust say “a young p e r s o n ,” “th e injured w o m a n ,” etc. N ote that we say “the p o o r ” (not the poors), “the y o u n g ” (not the youngs), etc.
T h e + nationality
You can use th e + nationality adjectives that end in -c h or -sh (th e F re n c h / th e E n g lis h / th e S p an ish , etc.) T he m eaning is “the people o f that country”:
■ T h e F re n c h are famous for their food. (= the people o f France)
T h e F re n c h / th e E n g lis h , etc. are plural in m eaning. W e do not say “a French / an English.” You have to say a F re n c h m a n / a n E n g lis h w o m a n , etc.
You can also use th e + nationalities ending in -ese (th e C h in e s e / th e S u d a n e se / th e J a p a n e se , etc.):
■ T h e C h in e s e invented printing.
B ut these words can also be singular (a Japanese, a Sudanese, a V ietnam ese, etc.). [ Also a Sw iss (singular) and th e Sw iss (= the people o f Switzerland)
W ith other nationalities, the plural noun ends in -s. For example:
a n I ta lia n —► Ita lia n s a M e x ic a n —► M ex ica n s a T h a i —► T h ais
W ith these words (Ita lia n s, etc.), we do n ot norm ally use th e to talk about the people in general, (see U n it 73)
Exercises
U N I T
74.1 Answer the questions. Choose the right answer from the column. Don't forget the. Use a