TKT: KAL Part 3 Grammar: determiners and pronouns trainers

notes
Description
Participants learn the different types of determiners and pronouns, and create a list of
examples of these. They also work with authentic texts and their own sentences on
recognising different categories of determiners and pronouns.
Time required:

50 minutes

Materials
required:

Participants Worksheet 1 (one copy for each participant)

Participants Worksheet 2 (one copy for each participant)

Aims:

to introduce the different types of determiners and pronouns in

English

to practise recognising different types of determiners and pronouns

in texts

to raise awareness of difficulties students may have with

determiners and pronouns

Note: The sample task supplied here also covers nouns and adjectives, and is included in
the activity TKT: KAL Part 3: Nouns and adjectives as well as here.
Procedure
1. Participants work in small groups of 3 or 4. Write 2 columns on the board, with the
titles determiners and pronouns. Allow 2 minutes for each group to brainstorm
different types of determiners and pronouns. If you have a large group, you could
allocate either determiners or pronouns to different small groups. Refer to the Key
below for examples if participants are unsure.
2. After 2 minutes, ask for 2 volunteers to write on the board. The other participants call
out their types of determiners or pronouns for the volunteers to write up. When they
have finished, ask participants to consider the two lists and discuss in their groups
any they are not sure about. Discuss these with the whole group, checking answers
against the key and ensuring all the types in the key are included (see Key below).
3. Give out Participants Worksheet 1. Individually, participants look at Exercise 1
and decide which sentence defines determiners and which defines pronouns. Check
in pairs before checking with the whole group (a=pronoun; b=determiner).
4. Refer participants to Participants Worksheet 1 Exercise 2. Working individually,
participants look at the words in bold in the text and decide which type of pronoun or
determiner each one is. When they have finished, they should check their answers
with a partner. Go through any where there is disagreement with the whole class
(see Key below).
5. Divide the group into 12 pairs or small groups. If this is not possible, have 6 or 4
pairs/small groups. Allocate each group one of the types of determiners or pronouns
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(allocate articles and cardinal and ordinal numbers together, as these are
straightforward). If you have 6 or 4 groups, allocate 2 or 3 types to each small group.
6. Give out Participants Worksheet 2. Allow the groups 2-3 minutes (longer if they are
working on more than one type of determiner/pronoun) to brainstorm examples of the
type of determiner/pronoun they have been allocated. They should complete the
relevant box in the table. If they have difficulties with any of the categories, refer them
back to the examples from the text, or give them an example yourself (see Key
below).
7. Once the allocated time is up, feed back each small groups words to the whole
group, checking as you do so (see Key below). Point out how some words can be
used with different grammatical functions.
8. Discuss the following questions with participants:

Do any of these cause particular problems for learners? (All of these can
cause problems for learners depending on their level and first language)

Why might that be? (Generally speaking, with pronouns they may not
understand what they refer to. With determiners they may have accuracy
problems related to the grammar of the noun the determiners precede e.g. do
we say a sugar or an sugar?)

9. Put participants into three or four teams. Each team writes six sentences, each
containing one pronoun or determiner only. The teams take it in turns to read out
their sentences. The other teams must say what kind of pronoun/ determiner the
sentence contains. The team giving the right answer first gets a point.
10. Write the following sentence on the board:
That that that that speaker used was unnecessary
Participants work out the meaning and the grammatical functions of the thats in the
sentence (See Key below).

Additional information
TKT: KAL may contain tasks asking candidates to match pronouns or determiners (in texts,
sentences or sets) to their types. There could also be tasks which ask candidates to identify
the line in a text in which a particular type of pronoun or determiner occurs. Other task types
with a similar focus are also possible.

Suggested follow-up activities/questions

1. This activity could follow the activity TKT: KAL Part 3: Word classes and could be
followed by the activity TKT: KAL Part 3: Nouns and adjectives.

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
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TKT: KAL Part 3 Grammar: determiners and pronouns answer

keys
Key to Procedure steps
Step 1:
Types of determiners

Types of pronouns

articles

personal

cardinal and ordinal

numbers

possessive

relative

possessive adjectives

interrogative

demonstrative adjectives

indefinite

quantifiers

demonstrative

reflexive

reciprocal

quantifiers

Step 10:
1) That 2) that 3) that 4) that speaker used was unnecessary.
1) demonstrative adjective
2) a demonstrative adjective or a demonstrative pronoun (we have no context to let us
decide)
3) relative pronoun
4) demonstrative adjective
Key to Participants Worksheet 1
Exercise 2
1

article

the

article

five

cardinal number

who

relative pronoun

one

cardinal number

it

personal pronoun

him

personal pronoun

he

personal pronoun

some

quantifier

10

your

possessive adjective

11

this

demonstrative adjective

12

someone

indefinite pronoun

13

they

personal pronoun

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
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Key to Participants Worksheet 2

Type of
determiner/pronoun

Examples

Articles

The

One

First

Two

Second

Three

Third

etc

etc

My

His

Our

Your

Her

Their

This

These

That

Those

Cardinal and ordinal

numbers

Possessive adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives

All
Both
Each
Quantifiers

Every
No
Neither
None (of)

An

The whole
Some

Lots of

Several

A lot (of)

Any

A few (of)

Most

A little (of)

Much

Fewer (of)

More (of)
Less (of)

Personal pronouns

You

Me

He

Him

She

Her

We

It

Us
Them

They
Possessive pronouns

Mine

His

Ours

Yours

Hers

Theirs

Who
Relative pronouns

Which
That

Interrogative pronouns

Indefinite pronouns

Where
When

Which

Where

How

Who

When

Why

Something

Anything

Nothing

Somebody

Anybody

Nobody

Someone

Anyone

No-one

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Demonstrative pronouns

Reflexive pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns

This

Those

That

These

Myself

Himself

Yourself

Herself

Each other

One another

Ourselves
Yourselves
Themselves

N.B. Depending on its position and function in a sentence, a quantifier may be a determiner
or a pronoun, e.g. Would you like some water? Yes, Id love some.

Key to Sample Task

1B

2A

3B

4C

5B

6C

7B

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
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TKT: KAL Part 3 Grammar: determiners and pronouns

Participants Worksheet 1
Exercise 1
Which definition is of a determiner, and which of a pronoun?
a. An item used to substitute for the references to entities which lexical noun phrases
indicate.
b. An item which indicates the kind of reference a noun phrase has.
(from Carter and McCarthy, 2006,Cambridge Grammar of English, CUP)

Exercise 2
Look at the pronouns and determiners in bold in this text. Decide on the type of determiner
or pronoun of each word.
N.B. There are other pronouns and determiners in the text which are not in bold.

Paris art theft: Experts puzzle over motives of 'unusual heist'

Itcouldhavebeen1)alonerwithagrudge;itcouldhavebeenanorganisedgang.But
2)theexpertsagree:it'sextremelyunlikelythat3)fivepricelesspaintingsweretaken
fromtheParisMuseumofModernArtontheordersofaconnoisseurcriminalbuilding
upanexquisiteprivatecollection.
Thepopularimageofthegentlemanthief4)whoprizesaestheticsabovefinancialgainis
largelyamyth,saysCharlesHill,aformerdetectivewithScotlandYard'sartand
antiquitiesunit,whonowrunsaprivateagencyspecialisingintrackingdownlost
artworks.Hecanrecalljust5)onesuchcase:AdamWorth,anotoriousVictorianmaster
criminalreportedlythemodelforSherlockHolmes'snemesis,ProfessorMoriartywho
in1876stoleaGainsboroughportraitoftheDuchessofDevonshireandcarried6)it
aroundwith7)himinasuitcaseso8)hecould"worshipitsgraceandtenderbeauty".
TheParistheftwas"veryunusual",Hillsaid,asCCTVfootagehadspottedasinglemasked
thiefinsidethemuseum.Therewereanumberofpossiblemotivesforsuchcrimes,he
said.
"For9)somepeopleit'sjusttrophyhunting,likegoingtoAfricaandshootinga
rhinoceros,orhavingaglamorousblondeon10)yourarm.It'stheadrenalinerush,just
beingabletogetawaywithit,"hesaid.
"Butin11)thiscasemyfeelingisit'sprobablyaloner,12)someonewithagrudge,even
ifit'sagrudgeagainsttheworld.13)Theycouldevenbeaformeremployee."

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 20 May 2010

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
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Page 6 of 9

TKT: KAL Part 3 Grammar: determiners and pronouns

Participants Worksheet 2
Add examples of the type/s of determiner and pronoun you have been allocated.
Type of
determiner/pronoun

Examples

Articles
Cardinal and ordinal
numbers
Possessive adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives

Quantifiers

Personal pronouns

Possessive adjectives

Relative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns

Indefinite pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns

Reflexive pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
information see our Terms of Use at http://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

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Page 7 of 9

TKT: KAL Part 3 Grammar: determiners and pronouns Sample

Task
A teacher is studying a text on aspects of noun phrases in preparation for working on this
area in class.
For questions 1-7, read the article about a school in India. Read the questions and choose
the line A, B or C which answers the questions.
A short walk from the park rises a massive grey Gothic tower

Line 1

on which is painted a coat of arms and the slogan

Line 2

LUCET ET ARDET. This is the St Alfonsos

Line 3

Boys High School and Junior College, established 1958,

Line 4

one of the oldest educational establishments in the state

Line 5

of Kanataka. The Jesuit-run school is Kitturs most famous,

Line 6

and many of its alumni have gone on to the Indian

Line 7

Institute of Technology, the Karnataka State Regional

Line 8

Engineering College, and other prestigious universities

Line 9

in India and abroad.

Line 10

1.

Which line contains a demonstrative pronoun?

A.2

2.

C. 9

B. 5

C. 7

B. 5

C. 7

Which line contains a possessive adjective?

A. 3

7.

B. 6

Which line contains a noun with two typical noun endings?

A.2

6.

C. 9

4. Which line contains a quantifier?

A. 1

5.

B. 5

Which line contains a superlative adjective?

A1

4.

C. 6

Which line contains a relative pronoun?

A. 2

3.

B. 3

B. 4

C.7

Which line contains a proper noun?

A.1
B.3
C. 5

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
information see our Terms of Use at http://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

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Page 8 of 9

Acknowledgements
Cambridge ESOL is grateful to the following for copyright permission:
Guardian.co.uk
Paris art theft: Experts puzzle over motives of 'unusual heist', Thursday 20 May 2010

Every effort has been made to identify the copyright owners for material used, but it is not always
possible to identify the source or contact the copyright holders. In such cases, Cambridge ESOL
would welcome information from the copyright owners.

UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further
information see our Terms of Use at http://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org
Page 9 of 9