Social Issues- Discuss and Agree Determiners Practice
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Definite, indefinite and zero articles practice through giving opinions on society discussion.
Lesson Plan Content:
Social issues discuss and agree determiners practice
articles and social issues vocabulary practice
Work in twos or threes. Try to make sentences you both think/ all think are true starting with words below. The phrases on one line often have different meanings, so choose one specific phrase (not a whole line). Your teacher will tell you to use the other version below with no articles (adding them when necessary) or the version on this page with articles in.
- From 1990 to 1999/ (In) the (19)90s…
- A 21st century CEO/ The 21st century CEO/ 21st century CEOs…
- The academic community/ Readers of academic journals,…
- (Drug) addiction/ Becoming a drug addict…
- The chief advantage of/ A major selling point of…
- Airlines/ The travel industry…
- (For) almost all people/ (For) the vast majority of people,…
- Arabic countries/ The Middle East…
- Arctic countries/ Countries near the North Pole…
- Antarctica/ The South Pole…
- Asia/ The Orient…
- A convincing argument for/ The most convincing argument for…
- Baby-boomers/ The baby-boomer generation…
- Beaches/ The coast…
- A big benefit of/ The biggest benefit of…
- Billionaires/ The super-rich…
- (Formal) business clothing/ A suit (and tie)….
- The main cause of/ A major cause of…
- (In) the twenty-first century/ Since 2000…
- Large cities in this country/ The capital city of this country…
- Leaving the countryside/ Depopulated villages…
- Democratic countries/ A democratic country…
- Countries near the equator/ Tropical countries…
- In a couple of years/ In the next couple of years,…
- (In) developing countries/ (In) the developing world…
- A difference between/ The only difference between…
- Becoming a drop out/ Dropping out of the workforce
- In the education system/ In school,…
- The elderly/ Elderly people…
- Electoral systems/ The electoral system (in this country)…
- England/ The United Kingdom…
- The environment/ Environmental problems…
- Everest/ The Himalayas…
- A few/ Few…
- In the (near) future/ From now on…
- Gambling/ The gambling industry…
- A good option…/ A better option/ The best option…
- The (current) government/ (Modern) politicians…
- At home/ In a house or flat,…
- Humans/ A human/ The human species…
- The most important/ A vital…
- Ireland/ The Republic of Ireland…
- Legislation on data security/ The legislation on data security…
- The LGBT community/ LGBT teenagers…
- The media/ Newspapers…
- In June and July/ In the middle of the year…
- Korea/ The Korean Peninsula…
- Modern society/ The modern world…
- Neighbouring countries/ The nearest countries (to this one)…
- New York/ The Big Apple…
- In the North of this country/ In northern towns…
- (In) North America/ (In) the USA…
- NAFTA/ The North American Free Trade Agreement…
- The nuclear power industry/ Nuclear power plants…
- The (official) opposition/ Opposition parties…
- In Pacific nations/ In the Pacific Ocean...
- In the distant past/ A long time ago,…
- Pensions/ The (national) pension system…
- Problems with immigration/ The problems with immigration…
- A large number of people/ Many people…
- Most people/ Most of the people in this room…
- The most polluted places/ Pollution…
- The poor/ Poverty…
- In prison/ As a prisoner,…
- Private education/ The private education system…
- Professionals/ The (upper) middle class…
- A rat/ The rat/ Rats…
- The latest research/ Recent research…
- Right-wingers/ The (alt) right…
- Sociologists/ (The field of) sociology…
- Swedish people/ The Swedish…
- A typical (Japanese) office worker/ The typical (Japanese) office worker…
- (Long-term) unemployed people/ The (long-term) unemployed…
- The United Nations/ United Nations peacekeepers…
- Cambridge University/ The University of Cambridge…
- Vulnerable children/ The most vulnerable children…
- Welfare benefits/ The Welfare State…
- The West/ Western countries…
- (Factory/ Industrial/ Manual) workers/ The working class…
- (In) January to June this year/ (In) the first half of this year…
- Next year/ In the next few years,…
Share some opinions with other groups and see if they share your opinions. Then ask about any phrases that you couldn’t understand, couldn’t use, etc, working together to make statements from them each time.
Add missing determiners to the phrases on the next page. Sometimes you need to add articles to both phrases, and sometimes to just one. The ones on one line always take different articles, e.g. “a” for one and “-” for the other (never two “the” ones on one line).
No articles version
If your teacher tells you to, use this version for the speaking activity, adding any articles when they are needed.
From 1990 to 1999 (In) (19)90s…
21st century CEO 21st century CEO 21st century CEO…
Academic community Readers of academic journals,…
(Drug) addiction Becoming drug addict…
Chief advantage of Major selling point of…
Airlines Travel industry…
(For) almost all people (For) vast majority of people,…
Arabic countries Middle East…
Arctic countries Countries near North Pole…
Antarctica South Pole…
Asia Orient…
Convincing argument for Most convincing argument for…
Baby-boomers Baby-boomer generation…
Beaches Coast…
Big benefit of Biggest benefit of…
Billionaires Super-rich…
(Formal) business clothing Suit (and tie)….
Main cause of Major cause of…
(In) twenty-first century Since 2000…
Large cities in this country Capital city of this country…
Leaving countryside Depopulated villages…
Democratic countries Democratic country…
Countries near equator Tropical countries…
In couple of years In next couple of years,…
(In) developing countries (In) developing world…
Difference between Only difference between…
Becoming drop out Dropping out of workforce
In education system In school,…
Elderly Elderly people…
Electoral systems Electoral system (in this country)…
England United Kingdom…
Environment Environmental problems…
Everest Himalayas…
Few Few…
In (near) future From now on…
Gambling Gambling industry…
Good option… Best option…
(Current) government (Modern) politicians…
At home In house or flat,…
Humans Human Human species…
Most important policy Vital policy
Ireland Republic of Ireland…
Legislation on data security Legislation on data security…
LGBT community LGBT teenagers…
Media Newspapers…
In June and July In middle of the year…
Korea Korean Peninsula…
Modern society Modern world…
Neighbouring countries Nearest countries (to this one)…
New York Big Apple…
In North of this country In northern towns…
(In) North America (In) USA…
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement…
Nuclear power industry Nuclear power plants…
(Official) opposition Opposition parties…
In Pacific nations In Pacific Ocean...
In distant past Long time ago,…
Pensions (National) pension system…
Problems with immigration Problems with immigration…
Large number of people Many people…
Most people Most of people in this room…
Most polluted places Pollution…
Poor Poverty…
In prison As prisoner,…
Private education Private education system…
Professionals (Upper) middle class…
Rat Rat Rats…
Latest research Recent research…
Right-wingers (Alt) right…
Sociologists (Field of) sociology…
Swedish people Swedish…
Typical (Japanese) office worker Typical (Japanese) office worker…
(Long-term) unemployed people (Long-term) unemployed…
United Nations United Nations peacekeepers…
Cambridge University University of Cambridge…
Vulnerable children Most vulnerable children…
Welfare benefits Welfare State…
West Western countries…
(Factory/ Industrial/ Manual) workers Working class…
(In) January to June this year (In) first half of this year…
Next year In next few years,…
When you finish the speaking activity, add any determiners needed above. The ones on one line always take different articles, e.g. “a” for one thing on that line and “-” for the other thing on that line (never “the” for both things on one line, never “a” for both, etc).
Optional: Do the grammar presentation below and use that to help check your answers.
Check your answers with the first worksheet. All other answers are probably wrong, so ask about any you wrote differently. Then do or check the grammar presentation below if you haven’t yet.
Determiners grammar presentation
Without looking above, write “a/ an”, “the” or “-” in each of the gaps below depending on which you think matches that grammar explanation. Only one kind of article should be possible in each gap. Also fill in the gaps in the examples given to help with and help check your answer.
Determiners in general and specific statements
- ___________ + plural noun for (the most common way of) making general statements
- ___________________ + singular (countable) noun for making general statements (the second most common way, often used to make you imagine one typical example, e.g. one typical person in that situation)
- ___________________ + singular (countable) noun for making general statements (less common, mainly used to make scientific statements about species etc)
- ______________ + uncountable nouns to make general statements (e.g. “_____ political repression”
- _____________ + uncountable nouns to talk about specific things (e.g. “_____ political repression which was mentioned in the New York Times yesterday”)
- ______________ + singular countable noun to mean one/ any of a group (e.g. “_____ anarchist protestor” or “_____ Labour Party MP”)
- _____________ + something unique/ that there is only one of (e.g. “_______ middle of the ocean”, “______ sole….”)
- ______________ + something that is number one (e.g. “_______ main…”, “______ best…”)
- ______________ + an adjective to mean a whole group of people (e.g. “_____ disabled”, “_______ British”)
- ______________ + the name of a whole group (e.g. “_______ Vietnamese community”, “_________ millennial generation”, “________ tobacco industry” or “______ population”)
- ___________ + something that is considered to be one thing all joined together (e.g. “_________ mainland”)
Determiners in number expressions
- “all/ most/ many/ some + __________ + people” when talking about people in general
- “all of/ most of/ many of/ some of ________ people” when talking about specific people
- ________ + number expressions like “little”, “large amount of” and “couple of” (with n negative meaning)
- “_________ + few” and “________ + little”, with a negative meaning
Determiners in time expressions
- “____________ + this/ next/ last + week/ month/ year”, and similar phrases like “today”, “tomorrow” and “yesterday”
- “in ____________ last … (s)” to mean times from the past until now (e.g. “in ______ last four decades”, “in ______ last five minutes”)
- “in ____________ next … (s)” to mean times from now and into the future (e.g. “in ______ next two days”, “in ______ next 24 hours”)
- “(In) ____________” + a decade (e.g. “in _______ 1890s”)
- “(In) ____________” + a century (e.g. “in ______ 16th century”)
- “In _______ past” and “In ________ future” (because there is only one of each)
Determiners in names of places
- __________ + mountain ranges (e.g. “_____ Alps” or “______ Rockies”)
- __________ + names of (individual) mountains (e.g. “_____ Mont Blanc” or “______ Mount Rushmore”)
- _________ + names of countries made up of different islands, states, etc, often ending with “-s” (“______ Netherlands”, “______ Philippines”, “______ Seychelles”, “______ Maldives”, “_____ UAE”, etc)
- _________ + names of individual countries (“______ Belgium”, “_____ Cyprus”, “_____ Malta”, “______ Argentina”, “_____ Georgia”, “______ Greece”, “_______ Kazakhstan”, “________ Russia”, “_____ Jordan”, “_____ Mongolia”, “______ Switzerland”, “_____ Thailand”, “______ Turkey”)
- _______ + official names of countries with “republic”, e.g. “_______ Czech Republic” or “_______ DRC”)
- ___________ + continents and parts of continents (“______ South America”, “____ Central Asia”, “______ Australasia”, etc)
- _________ + (official) names of towns and cities (“______ Paris”, “______ Athens”, “______ Brussels”, “______ Cologne”, “______ Florence”, “______ Geneva”, “______ Guangzhou/ Canton”, “_____ Kiev”, “_____ LA”, “_____ Milan”, “____ Moscow”, “_____ Munich”, “______ Naples”, “_____ North Korea”, “______ Perth”, “______ Prague”, “______ Rome”, “______ Shenzhen”, “______ Turin”, “______ Venice”, “_____ Vienna”, “_______ Warsaw”)
- _________ + nicknames of cities and countries (“_______ Windy City”, “______ Venice of the Midlands”, “______ sick man of Europe”, “_______ Big Easy”, etc)
- _________ + names of geographical features (“______ Indian Subcontinent”, “_____ Straits of Malacca”, etc)
- _______ + names of seas and oceans (“______ Atlantic Ocean”, “_______ South China Sea”, “______ Sea of Japan”, etc)
- “at/ in + _________” + a place to mean your status (not actually meaning being physically in or at that place, e.g. “at ________ university” to mean being a university student but “at a university” for the location of a protest)
- “In ________ North/ South/ East/ West of…” to mean parts of countries and countries
- “________ West/ East/ South/ North” to mean (whole) hemispheres of the world
Try to find at least one example of each of these in the example phrases above to start checking your answers.
Suggested answers
All other answers are probably wrong, so ask about any you wrote differently.
Determiners in general and specific statements
- ____-_______ + plural noun for making general statements (the most common way)
- ______a/an_____________ + singular (countable) noun for making general statements (the second most common way, often used to make you imagine one typical example, e.g. one typical person in that situation)
- ________the___________ + singular (countable) noun for making general statements (less common, mainly used to make scientific statements about species etc)
- _______-_______ + uncountable nouns to make general statements (e.g. “__-___ political repression”
- _____the________ + uncountable nouns to talk about specific things (e.g. “__the___ political repression which was mentioned in the New York Times yesterday”)
- _____a/ an_________ + singular countable noun to mean one/ any of a group (e.g. “__an___ anarchist protestor” or “__a___ Labour Party MP”)
- ______the_______ + something unique/ that there is only one of (e.g. “___the____ middle of the ocean”, “___the___ sole….”)
- _______the_______ + something that is number one (e.g. “__the_____ main…”, “___the___ best…”)
- ______the________ + an adjective to mean a whole group of people (e.g. “__the___ disabled”, “___the____ British”)
- _______the_______ + the name of a whole group (e.g. “__the_____ Vietnamese community”, “___the______ millennial generation”, “___the_____ tobacco industry” or “___the___ population”)
- _____the______ + something that is considered to be one thing all joined together (e.g. “_____the____ mainland”)
Determiners in number expressions
- “all/ most/ many/ some + ____-______ + people” when talking about people in general
- “all of/ most of/ many of/ some of ___the_____ people” when talking about specific people
- ____a_____ + number expressions like “little”, “large amount of” and “couple of” (with n negative meaning)
- “____-_____ + few” and “____-____ + little”, with a negative meaning
Determiners in time expressions
- “_____-_______ + this/ next/ last + week/ month/ year”, and similar phrases like “today”, “tomorrow” and “yesterday”
- “in ____the________ last … (s)” to mean times from the past until now (e.g. “in __the____ last four decades”, “in __the____ last five minutes”)
- “in ______the______ next … (s)” to mean times from now and into the future (e.g. “in ___the___ next two days”, “in __the____ next 24 hours”)
- “(In) ____the________” + a decade (e.g. “in ___the____ 1890s”)
- “(In) ____the________” + a century (e.g. “in __the____ 16th century”)
- “In ___the____ past” and “In ___the_____ future” (because there is only one of each)
Determiners in names of places
- ____the______ + mountain ranges (e.g. “__the___ Alps” or “___the___ Rockies”)
- ____-______ + names of (individual) mountains (e.g. “__-___ Mont Blanc” or “___-___ Mount Rushmore”)
- ___the______ + names of countries made up of different islands, states, etc, often ending with “-s” (“__the____ Netherlands”, “___the___ Philippines”, “__the____ Seychelles”, “___the___ Maldives”, “___the__ UAE”, etc)
- _____-____ + names of individual countries (“___-___ Belgium”, “__-___ Cyprus”, “___-__ Malta”, “__-____ Argentina”, “__-___ Georgia”, “__-____ Greece”, “__-_____ Kazakhstan”, “_____-___ Russia”, “__-___ Jordan”, “__-___ Mongolia”, “__-____ Switzerland”, “___-__ Thailand”, “___-___ Turkey”)
- ____the___ + official names of countries with “republic”, e.g. “____the___ Czech Republic” or “___the____ DRC”)
- _____-______ + continents and parts of continents (“___-___ South America”, “__-__ Central Asia”, “___-___ Australasia”, etc)
- _____-____ + (official) names of towns and cities (“__-____ Paris”, “__-____ Athens”, “___-___ Brussels”, “___-___ Cologne”, “__-____ Florence”, “__-____ Geneva”, “___-___ Guangzhou/ Canton”, “__-___ Kiev”, “__-___ LA”, “___-__ Milan”, “__-__ Moscow”, “___-__ Munich”, “___-___ Naples”, “__-___ North Korea”, “___-___ Perth”, “__-____ Prague”, “___-___ Rome”, “___-___ Shenzhen”, “___-___ Turin”, “___-___ Venice”, “___-__ Vienna”, “___-____ Warsaw”)
- ____the_____ + nicknames of cities and countries (“___the____ Windy City”, “__the____ Venice of the Midlands”, “___the___ sick man of Europe”, “____the___ Big Easy”, etc)
- _____the____ + names of geographical features (“__the____ Indian Subcontinent”, “__the___ Straits of Malacca”, etc)
- ____the___ + names of seas and oceans (“___the___ Atlantic Ocean”, “____the___ South China Sea”, “___the___ Sea of Japan”, etc)
- “at/ in + ___-______” + a place to mean your status (not actually meaning being physically in or at that place, e.g. “at ____-____ university” to mean being a university student but “at a university” for the location of a protest)
- “In ____the____ North/ South/ East/ West of…” to mean parts of countries and countries
- “____the____ West/ East/ South/ North” to mean (whole) hemispheres of the world
If you haven’t checked that part yet, use this to help with the filling gaps in specific examples task above.
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