The wheel, the elderly

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • articles in general statements

Three ways to talk in general: a plural with no article (Cars gave families freedom), the + a singular noun for a whole type (The wheel changed everything), and the + an adjective for a group of people (the young, the elderly). The student reads a short history of travel, tells general from particular, chooses and writes the forms, and ranks the inventions that changed everyday life.

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the wheelthe elderlyelectricity

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: wheels, rails and appsReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the general theGrammar exercise
  6. 6Talking in generalGrammar rule
  7. 7General or particular?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Which form?Grammar exercise
  9. 9A letter to the editorGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Five inventionsSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: which sentence is right?Grammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: the refrigeratorGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: an invention that changed my countryDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. What is the most common way to get around in your town: cars, buses, bikes or something else?
  2. Do older people in your family use smartphones? What do they use them for?
  3. How did people in your country travel a hundred years ago?

Grammar rule

Talking in general

Three ways to talk about a whole type or group

What you meanFormExample
things or people in general (the everyday way)a plural or uncountable noun, no articleTrucks are noisy. Electricity is getting expensive.
a whole type of thing, as one idea: an invention, a machine, an animalthe + a singular noun (common in history, science and the news)The camera changed how we remember things. The camel can go for days without water.
a whole group of peoplethe + an adjectivethe rich, the poor, the young, the old, the elderly, the sick, the homeless, the unemployed

the + an adjective

  • It means "… people", so it takes a plural verb: The old remember life before TV.
  • It never takes -s: the young (not the youngs), the elderly (not the elderlies).
  • For one person, add a noun: an elderly man, a homeless woman (not an elderly).
  • It works with a short list of adjectives about people's situation (rich, poor, young, old, elderly, sick, injured, homeless, unemployed). With others, say people: friendly people (not the friendly).
  • Today, many writers prefer older people or older adults to the elderly, and disabled people to the disabled: they sound less cold.

Watch out

  • the + a plural or uncountable noun means particular ones, not all of them: The trucks on our street are noisy (those trucks). For all trucks, use no article: Trucks are noisy.
  • the + a singular noun sounds formal. In conversation, the plural is more common: Cameras changed how we remember things.
  • A singular noun can't stand alone: Camera changed… → The camera changed…
  • a / an + a singular noun means any one example: A camel can carry a lot (= any camel). It doesn't work for history: A camera changed how we remember things.

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