Understanding the Indefinite Articles A/An: The Importance of Word Sounds in English
When you were a beginner student of English, you learned that the article 'an' goes before vowels (a, e, i, o, u), and the article 'a' goes before consonants (letters that are not vowels), like t, r, v, etc.
That's a good general rule, but it's not really true.
Look at this sentence for example: I have an uncle who works at a university. I will meet him in an hour.
So, why is it 'an' uncle but "a" university? And why 'an' before hour?? The answer is word sounds.
Articles A/An: Sound is More Important than Spelling
Let's think about it. How do you say the word uncle? It's pronounced //ˈʌŋ.kəl/ (or 'un-kl'). This is a vowel sound (starting with 'u'), so we need to use the article 'an'.
How do you pronounce university? It's pronounced /ˌjuː.nəˈvɝː.sə.t̬i/( or "you-ni-ver-sity"). This is actually a consonant sound (starting with a 'y'). So, we use the article 'a'.
How do you pronounce hour? If you pronounce it correctly, you know that the 'h' is silent. The correct pronunciation is /aʊr/ (or "our"). This means the first sound is an 'o' sound -- a vowel sound! So, you need to use "an" because the first sound is an 'o'.
The real rule for the indefinite articles a/an: 'An' is used for words with a vowel sound (like apple, ear, and hour); 'a' is used for consonant sounds (like fox, pig, and university).
Using the Indefinite Articles A/An with Abbreviations & Acronyms
Now, this rule is very important when you use abbreviations (shortened words, such as "Dr.") and acronyms (words like "USA", in which each letter stands for a word (United States of America)).
Here are two example sentences. Fill in the article 'a' or 'an':
My sister has M.A. in English. Yesterday, she sent me SMS from her new mobile phone.
Here are the correct sentences:
Answers
My sister has an M.A. in English. Yesterday, she sent me an SMS from new mobile phone.
The rules are the same. "M.A." is pronounced "emm aye", so it's a vowel sound. "SMS" is pronounced "ess-emm-ess", so it's also a vowel sound.
The Indefinite Articles A/An: Practice Exercises
Do you think you understand? Try these indefinite article exercises.
- This is home.
- My brother is honest man.
- Paul is FBI agent.
- John is unique man.
- This is U.N. office.
- My father has PhD.
- He took HIV test.
- I have one-year-old boy.
Helpful hint: As a rule, you can remember that abbreviations or acronyms that use 'an' start with these letters: A, E, F, H, I L, M, N, O, S, X
Answers
1-a, 2-an, 3-an, 4-a, 5-a, 6-a, 7-an, 8-a
I hope this has been helpful. Using English articles correctly is not easy. Many native English speakers make mistakes with indefinite articles. Articles are difficult to use correctly, but they are important if you want to communicate in English without errors.
Good luck!
Related Lessons:
- Article Practice Exercises (All Levels)
- Help Understanding Articles (Beginner)
- The Definite Article with Names of Places (Advanced)
- Matthew Barton / Englishcurrent.com (Copyright)
excellent material for practicing and also for tips to teach, thanks so much, best regards, Leonor A.
comprehensive and useful material with good explaination.
I like this page because it is very helpful.
It is explaining things very good.
There are excellent exercises to do.
its very nice i liked it thank yuo i got prepare for my exams
I like to now more about the Grammar
I like this page, it gives me a lot of help.
Now I understand article better:)
My brother is …………M.A.In English (a/ an /the ) answer
an
an
an
A
An
thanks a lot
My brother is an M.A In English….
My sistwr is _ M.A in English
an
It gives me lot of help
Thanks alot for this wonderful article
Tq so much ,it helped in my project
He is an m.sc in mathematics
Whether it s correct
Yes.
Thank you so much.. It gives me a lot of help again thanks
An
I finally realized btw an and a, I’ve been always confused about these two. Word sounds were the KEYS to differentiate an or a !
It’s so helpful to understand vowel and consonant sound
My brother is an M.A.In English an the answer
hmm?
Exactly. ‘an M.A’ is the answer.
You would think that people will know this yet you hear native English speakers (some of whom are teachers) teaching primary school students to say “a egg” or “a email”….ugh!!