How use article a and an?


Use a before nouns that begin with a consonant sound, and use an before nouns that begin with a vowel sound. Use the article a or an to indicate any non-specified member of a group or category.

When to use an or a?

A and an are two different forms of the same word: the indefinite article a that is used before noun phrases. Use a when the noun or adjective that comes next begins with a consonant sound. Use an when the noun or adjective that comes next begins with a vowel sound.

How do you use a and an examples?

You use “a” when the word starts with a consonant sound and “an” when the word starts with a vowel sound. The noun “hour” is pronounced with a silent “h” (vowel sound), so you should use “an. We only have a hour. I waited an hour for you.

Is it an hour or an hour?

A and an are different forms of the indefinite article. Words where the “h” is silent, such as honor or honest, use “an” instead of “a.” Since the “h” in “hour” is silent, it is “an hour” instead of “a hour.”

Do we say a year or an year?

A year. The article “a” is used before words that begin with a consonant sound. The letter “y” can function either as a vowel or a consonant. In the case of the word “year,” it functions as a consonant, so “a year” is correct.

Is it water or waters?

The noun ‘water' is part of a category of nouns known as ‘uncountable', which means that they do not have plural forms. However, in literature, particularly in poetry, a huge amount of water as in a storm, river flood or tidal wave, can be referred to in plural as “waters”.

Is it an umbrella or a umbrella?

With words such as ‘umbrella', ‘ice cream' and ‘apple' you have to use “an umbrella”, “an ice cream” and “an apple”. Unfortunately there are some exceptions to this rule too. When ‘u' makes the same sound as the ‘y' in “you”, or ‘o' makes the same sound as ‘w' in “won” then you should use ‘a'.

Is it a uniform or an uniform?

“A uniform is correct”. Explanation: Though the word “Uniform” starts with U which is a vowel but when you pronounce the word” Uniform “ the sound is of Y which is a consonant. So, An is incorrect. A is the correct article to use with Uniform.

How to teach the use of a and an?

“A” and “an” are used only where countable nouns are in the singular form. For example – a cup or an umbrella. “A” is used before a consonant, and “an” is used before vowels and with silent h words. For example – a glass, an apple, or an honest girl.

When to use an vs. a?

“A” goes before words that begin with consonants. “An” goes before words that begin with vowels: an apricot. an egg.

What is the use of article A?

The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article. For example, if I say, “Let's read the book,” I mean a specific book.

Do you always use an before a vowel?

It's common to think that the rule is to use an before a vowel letter and a before a consonant letter. But the actual rule is a little more complicated. You want to use an before a word beginning with a vowel sound (umbrella, herb) and a before a word beginning with a consonant sound (crate, ukulele).

What is an article in a sentence examples?

“The” is a definite article because it's identifying a specific noun. For example, saying you went to the zoo and saw the elephant would imply that you saw the only elephant at the zoo. You're referring to a specific elephant. “A” and “an” are indefinite articles.

What is the zero article rule?

The zero article is also known as the zero determiner. In general, no article is used with proper nouns, mass nouns where the reference is indefinite, or plural count nouns where the reference is indefinite.

Is it a hotel or an hotel?

Both “a hotel” and “an hotel” are correct, but “a hotel” is more commonly used. The use of “an” before “hotel” is based on the pronunciation of the word. If the “h” in “hotel” is silent, as it is in some dialects or accents, then “an hotel” would be appropriate.

Is it a hospital or an hospital?

Hospital when pronounced has a proper ‘ha' sound in it. Therefore we use a or the, and not an. It is similar to hut, horse, hose, hope, hill, hippy, hat, house. Only words with an a or o sound have an ‘an'.

Is it a horse or an horse?

“A horse” is correct. The article is always used before a noun but according to pronunciation, Article “A” is used for consonant pronunciation and Article “An” is used for vowel pronunciation. As far as your question is concerned, “A horse” is correct.

Is it yellow or a yellow?

Which is correct, “a yellow” or “an yellow”? Yellow starts with a y which is a consonant sound in this case. We know that consonant sound uses ‘a' and vowel uses ‘an'. So, it is a yellow.

Is it an honest or a honest?

Although some words may visually start with a consonant, their pronunciation can lead with a vowel sound. For example, the word “honest” starts with the consonant “h,” but its pronunciation begins with the vowel sound of “o.” Thus, the correct usage is “an honest.”

Is it a heir or an heir?

It is proper to say an heir. The rule for both speaking and writing is that words that begin with a vowel sound take the article an. Since the h in heir is silent and it starts with a vowel sound, heir should be preceded by an.

Is rice plural or singular?

Rice is both singular and plural. You can say ‘rices' to refer to the kinds of rices or to be used as countable noun.

Is money plural or singular?

However, the word money is not a countable noun. The word money behaves in the same way as other noncount nouns like water, sand, equipment, air, and luck, and so it has no plural form. You wouldn't say “I have five money.” You would say “I have five dollars/francs/pesos/pounds.”

Can I say 2 waters?

The word “water” is singular, never plural. The expression “a little water” is not a use of a countable noun “a water”, it is the compound determiner “a little”, which modifies the uncountable noun “water”. Consider that you can't say “two little waters”, because the compound word is “a little”.

Is it an egg or a egg?

articles are – a, an and the which comes before a noun or a pronoun. we use an for the words beginning with the 5 vowels – a, e, i, o and u. the article an is used before the noun egg as its starts with vowel ‘e'. however , we use a for common nouns and the for he proper nouns.

Is it in an hour or a hour?

You use “a” when the word starts with a consonant sound and “an” when the word starts with a vowel sound. The noun “hour” is pronounced with a silent “h” (vowel sound), so you should use “an.

Is it correct to say an ice cream?

An ice cream is correct. icecream pronounced vowel sound so it takes ‘an' indefinite article. “An ice cream” is is grammatically correct.