Articles

How can you identify an article?

It doesn’t get any easier than this!

Quick tip

There are only three articles in English: the, a and an.

Articles give us information about a noun; they indicate whether or not the noun is a

 specific one known to both the speaker and listener. Take a look at these examples to see

 what we mean:

1. I bought a red car. (The listener doesn’t know anything about the red car.)

2. The red car was on sale. (The listener knows which car the speaker is talking about.)

The is commonly called the definite article; a and an are called indefinite articles. The definite article may be used with both singular and plural nouns, but the indefinite articles only with singular nouns, as we can see in the following examples:

Answers

What’s the difference between a and an? See if you notice a pattern when you look at these examples:

The articles a and an have the same meaning and use. The only difference between them is that a is used when the next word begins with a consonant sound, while an is used when the next word begins with a vowel sound.

To enhance your understanding

What about a uniform and an hour? Do these contradict what we’ve said about when to use a and an? It certainly looks like a is being used before a vowel, and an is being used before a consonant. But in fact, that’s not the case. These phrases follow the rule perfectly. Remember that a is used when the next word begins with a consonant sound. The first letter of the next word doesn’t matter; only its first sound matters.

So what’s the first sound of the word uniform? Say it out loud and listen carefully. You will hear that the first sound of the word is the sound [y], as in yes. We really say ‘‘y-uniform’’ (and also ‘‘y-unicorn,’’ ‘‘y-usual,’’ etc.). Since ‘‘y,’’ a consonant, is the first sound, we use a before uniform.

What’s the first sound of the word hour? Say the word out loud, and you will notice that in fact we don’t pronounce the letter ‘‘h.’’ Rather, hour begins with a vowel sound, as in the word our, and so we say an hour.

Thus, apparent exceptions, like a uniform and an hour, are not exceptions at all.

Answers

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

سماحة السيد الصافي يكرم عددًا من عوائل الشهداء ضمن فعاليات مهرجان روح النبوة النسوي العالمي الثامن

إحدى أمهات الشهداء: نعتز بتضحيات أبنائنا ونفتخر بشهادتهم دفاعًا عن الدين والمقدسات

ضمن فعاليات مهرجان روح النبوة… عرض فيلم يوثق نشاطات الشعب النسوية في العتبة العباسية المقدسة

فعاليات مهرجان روح النبوة الثقافي تشهد تقديم أوبريت الثقلين القرآني

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

طبيب يكشف أفضل مكمل غذائي لتحسين المزاج ودعم الصحة النفسية

دراسة جديدة تكشف أضرار الأطعمة الجاهزة على القلب ؟

6 أطعمة طبيعية تهدئ الزكام دون أدوية.. تعرف عليهم

ماذا يحدث لأعراض الزكام عند تناول الثوم بانتظام؟

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ابتكار ثوري في بطاريات السيارات الكهربائية.. سعة أعلى 4 مرات

ماذا يحدث لجسمك عند شرب الماء الساخن يوميا؟

7 فوائد "خفية" لشرب شاي الكركديه كل يوم

دراسة تكشف قدرة الحيتان على سماع الأصوات منخفضة وعالية التردد من مسافة بعيدة

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

VOCALISATION

FILTER2

EXEMPLAR MODELS

A case study of the semantics of clear - The paradox of asserting clarity

Dot-Dash Outlines

trisyllable (n.)

orthoepy  (n.)

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