| We use “a” before all words that start with consonants. |
- A ball
- A computer
- A square
But, as always in English Language, there are exceptions.
- An honest mistake
- An honourable person
| We use “an” before all words that start with vowels. |
- An example
- An egg
- An orange
Again, there are exceptions:
- A united class
- A one-year-old boy
Why are there exceptions? Well, the choice of article we use is based on a system called phonetics. The pronunciation of all English words is governed by phonetics.
Note that we will use either “a” or “an” when we are referring to any member of a group, i.e. we are not referring to a particular person or thing.
- A girl (any girl)
- A car (any car)
- An idiot-proof method (any method)
- An elegant lady (any lady)
| We will use “the” when we are referring to a particular thing or person. |
- The girl (specific girl)
- The car (specific car)
- The idiot-proof method (specific method)
- The elegant lady (specific lady)
In addition, use of a, an, and the also depends on whether the noun following the article is countable or uncountable.
- I drank a glass of orange juice. (Glasses of orange juice can be counted)
- I saw an apple tree in the garden. (Apple trees can be counted)
- I saw the orange juice spill. (How many orange juices? Orange juice cannot be counted)
- I am admiring the lush foliage. (How many foliages? Foliage cannot be counted)
- I saw a durian on the dining table before I went out. However, when I returned, the durian was gone.
As shown in the above example, "a" or "an" is used to introduce a noun when it is mentioned for the first time in a piece of writing. "The" is used afterward each time you mention that same noun. In this case, the noun is durian.
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