A and An
The word
a is often referred to as
the indefinite article. The indefinite article has two forms:
a and
an. The form
a is used before words which begin with a consonant sound.
e.g. a broom
a garage
a green apple
As well as being used before words beginning with consonants,
a is also used before words which begin with vowels, but which are pronounced with an initial consonant sound. For instance,
a is used before words beginning with
eu and words beginning with a long
u, since these words are pronounced with an initial
y sound.
A is also used before the word
one, since
one is pronounced with an initial
w sound.
e.g. a euphonium
a utensil
a one-way street
As was mentioned in Chapter 3, a vowel followed by a single consonant, followed by another vowel, is usually pronounced long.
A is used before the following words which begin with a long
u:
| |
ubiquitous | unanimous |
unicorn | unification |
unified | uniform |
union | unique |
unison | unit |
united | university |
uranium | use |
useful | useless |
usual | usurper |
utensil | utility |
Utopia | |
The word
an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound.
e.g. an apple
an old broom
an umbrella
an hour
As well as being used before words beginning with vowels,
an is also used before the following words which begin with a silent
h:
heir
heirloom
honest
honor
honorable
honorarium
honorary
honorific
hour
hourglass
hourly
3. The use of A and An before singular countable nounsIn many languages, the word for
a is the same as the word for
one. This was also formerly the case in English. Because of the association of
a and
an with the idea of
one,
a and
an are usually used only with singular countable nouns.
a. A weakened form of OneA or
an frequently has the meaning of a weakened form of
one.
e.g. I would like
a cup of tea.
A car is parked in front of the house.
The child owns
a bicycle.
b. Naming a professionWhen a sentence such as the following is used to name someone's profession,
a or
an must precede the name of the profession.
e.g. She is
an artist.
He is
a student.
c. Making a general statementA is referred to as the
indefinitearticle because it can be used to refer to something in general terms.
A and
an are often used in general statements.
e.g.
A bank account can provide
a good means of saving money.
An accountant must have
a good knowledge of arithmetic.
A good pair of scissors should be used for cutting cloth.
d. Referring to something not mentioned beforeIn dialogue and descriptions,
a and
an are used with nouns that name something which has not been referred to previously.
e.g. Where can I find
a telephone?
Suddenly we heard
an eerie sound.
All at once
a moose appeared in front of us.
In these examples, it is assumed that the things referred to by the nouns
telephone,
sound and
moose have not been referred to previously.
e. A or An with the meaning of PerA or
an can also be used with the meaning of
per.
e.g. once
a week
two dollars
a dozen
four times
a year
In these examples,
a has the meaning of
per. For instance,
once a week means
once per week, and
two dollars a dozen means
two dollars per dozen.