"A" and "An"

[kenthoang28]

In this post, I would like to give a tip to you guys who are learning basic English how to use "a" and "an". Those word always go with countable nouns and its mean one.

  A/ An + Noun

How to use:

"An" is used when nouns are started by " u, e, o, a, i"

" A" is used for the rest of nouns.

For example:

    an apple

    a child

    a key

    a choice

    an umbrella...

[SpiralArchitect]

  On 11/22/2013 at 5:29 AM, kenthoang28 said:

In this post, I would like to give a tip to you guys who are learning basic English how to use "a" and "an". Those word always go with countable nouns and its mean one.

  A/ An + Noun

How to use:

"An" is used when nouns are started by " u, e, o, a, i"

" A" is used for the rest of nouns.

For example:

    an apple

    a child

    a key

    a choice

    an umbrella...

That's a poor and incomplete tip. An is not used before nouns starting with vowels but ones that have 'vowel sounds'. For example, it is a unicorn not an unicorn.

[ollie]

It is a start, but it is imperfect. There's a debate over "an hour" or "a hour", but from what I can tell it's more of a dialect thing.

[erronousRogue]

A good way to figure out which one to use instead of relying on letters, is to simply memorize the pronunciation of the word, and write down the word like so (for instance, "a younicorn", or "an aour").

I don't get it why so many people have trouble understanding basic concepts like a/an or plural forms. It's honestly all pretty simple.

[Eudora13]

It is never "a hour" but "an hour", due to the silent 'h' and the vowel sound beginning with 'u'. While with "honour" it's "an honour" due to the 'o' vowel sound.

The English language has countless dialects, so it's important to know what the correct and original pronunciation is. Grammar remains constant no matter what the dialect.

[Dame6089]

Once again, I never knew there were rules. This is one of those things that you just start to innately understand as a native speaker. I do not envy foreign English learners.

[pandandesign]

I would say use "an" when the word begins with a vowel. However, I believe you use "an" when there's a vowel after the first letter of the word. For instance, you would use an hour, not a hour because there's a vowel after the "h". Also, the word hour in which you have to use your tongue to pronounce it.

[SpiralArchitect]

  On 11/29/2013 at 5:42 AM, pandandesign said:

I would say use "an" when the word begins with a vowel. However, I believe you use "an" when there's a vowel after the first letter of the word. For instance, you would use an hour, not a hour because there's a vowel after the "h". Also, the word hour in which you have to use your tongue to pronounce it.

I can't quote an example but I am pretty sure that even this is not always applicable. The key is that an is used before a vowel sound. Knowing the correct pronunciation is the only way of being certain if the usage is correct. Frankly, it's not that difficult.

[Wanderer]

This is just another example as to why the English language is the hardest to learn. The rule of thumb is if a word has a vowel sound, it's preceded with "A". People who don't have English as their native tongue are going to have a hard time with this as their verbal pronunciations are not going to be that good at first.

[littleredcookbook]

  On 12/1/2013 at 10:24 PM, Wanderer said:

This is just another example as to why the English language is the hardest to learn. The rule of thumb is if a word has a vowel sound, it's preceded with "A". People who don't have English as their native tongue are going to have a hard time with this as their verbal pronunciations are not going to be that good at first.

You mean it's preceded with "an" for a vowel sound. You don't stick two syllables of vowel sounds right next to each other. If you have to pause between them "a ' hour" then you need an n. It really comes down to pronunciation.

[lizbeth19hph]

"An" is not only used for vowels but as well for consonants sounding like vowels. For example "Hour" ."An hour". "Hour" is pronounced like "a" not sounding like "h" so in this case, the article "an" must be used.