A vs.

An
USE 1

The article A is used before singular, countable nouns which begin

with consonant sounds.

Examples:

 He is a teacher.
 She doesn't own a car.
 I saw a bear at the zoo.

USE 2

The article AN is used before singular, countable nouns which begin with vowel sounds.

Examples:

 He is an actor.
 She didn't get an invitation.
 I saw an eagle at the zoo.

USE 3

Remember that A(AN) means "one" or "a single". You cannot use A(AN) with plural
nouns.

Examples:

 I saw a bears in Yellowstone National Park. Not Correct

 I saw bears in Yellowstone National Park. Correct

USE 4

If there is an adjective or an adverb-adjective combination before the

noun, A(AN) should agree with the first sound in the adjective or the adverb-adjective
combination.

Examples:

 He is an excellent teacher.
 I saw a really beautiful eagle at the zoo.
USE 5

Use A before words such as "European" or "university" which sound like they start with
a consonant even if the first letter is a vowel. Also use A before letters and numbers
which sound like they begin with a consonant, such as "U", "J", "1" or "9". Remember, it
is the sound not the spelling which is important. For example, "1" is spelled O-N-E;
however, it is pronounced "won" like it starts with a "W".

Examples:

 She has a euro. Sounds like "yu-ro".

 That number is a "1". Sounds like "won".

USE 6

Use AN before words such as "hour" which sound like they start with a vowel even if the
first letter is a consonant. Also use AN before letters and numbers which sound like they
begin with a vowel, such as "F" or "8". Remember, it is the sound not the spelling which
is important. For example, "F" is pronounced "eff" like it starts with an "E".

Examples:

 I only have an hour for lunch. Sounds like "au-er".

 Does his name begin with an "F"? Sounds like "eff".

USE 7

Some words such as "herb" or "hospital" are more complicated because they are
pronounced differently in different English accents. In most American accents, the "h" in
"herb" is silent, so Americans usually say "an herb". In many British accents, the "h" in
"herb" is pronounced, so many British say "a herb". In some British accents, the "h" in
hospital is silent, so some British will say "an hospital" instead of "a hospital".

USE 8

In English, some nouns are considered uncountable such as: information, air, advice,
salt and fun. We do not use A(AN) with these uncountable nouns. (Learn more
about countable and uncountable nouns.)

Examples:

 She gives a good advice. Not Correct

 She gives good advice. Correct
Exercises:
Choose A, AN or (/) for "no article" for each blank below, then click the "Check" button
to check your answers.

1. bed 11. very sad story

2. chair 12. web site

3. egg 13. Internet conference

4. fish 14. extremely large dog

5. answer 15. light meal

6. song 16. fantastic answer

7. vacation 17. unusually small head

8. investigation 18. funny joke

9. computers 19. expensive purse

10. old letter 20. hard lessons

1. I have two sisters and brother. My brother has son. That
makes me uncle.

2. Would you like orange? Or would you prefer banana? We also

have strawberries.

3. Does anyone have cell phone? I need to make emergency phone call.

4. Larry doesn't own car. He rides motorcycle to work.

5. Today, you ate ice cream cone, piece of pizza, burrito

and doughnuts. That's not exactly healthy diet.

6. Let's go see movie. There's adventure film that I have really been
 wanting to see.

7. Is there Internet cafe around here? I need to send important email.

8. Instead of making traditional turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, she

baked enormous chicken.

9. It looks like it is going to be rainy day. You should take umbrella.

10. Phil and Debbie took amazing vacation to Switzerland last year. They even
climbed mountain near Lucerne.

1. heavy suitcase 11. unhappy person

2. hamburger 12. university student

3. honest mistake 13. union

4. hungry man 14. underground garage

5. hourly wage 15. European hotel

6. H 16. experienced teacher

7. S 17. educated men

8. B 18. 8

9. R 19. 4

10. Z 20. 84

1. Because there was huge rainstorm, the flight was delayed for more
than hour. The airport was full of angry passengers.

2. You said that he was well known player on European football team, his
name started with "E", and his jersey had "18" on it. I don't know who you
are talking about.

3. That company makes app to let you instantly translate things

with iPhone. That's useful tool for frequent traveler.

4. Is this phone number? It's really hard to read. Is that "1"

or "7"?

5. With gas prices at all-time high, I wish I didn't drive SUV. I

think small compact car would be much more cost-effective way to get
around.

6. "Photo" doesn't start with "F"; it starts with "P". And "write" starts
with "W", not "R".

7. He's quite unique salesman. He has unusual gift for

keeping customers happy, and he has honest face which
convinces people to buy things.

8. I buy my music from online music store. They charge Americans dollar
for song and Europeans euro. You can choose to download the song
as MP3 or in several other formats. If you purchase ten songs, they will even send
you CD.

9. No, no, Margaret isn't secretary; her husband is. In fact, he is

quite efficient secretary. He works for well known law firm downtown.

10. Dr. Perez is professor at Stanford University. She has Ph.D. in

biology from Yale and MBA from Harvard. She is quite educated lady.

1. elephant 11. police

2. milk 12. pencil

3. trouble 13. vitamin

4. magazine 14. advice

5. information 15. violence

6. biology 16. table

7. passport 17. furniture

8. flower 18. computer

9. flour 19. weather

10. sleep 20. idea

1. This is amazing dance club, but you don't look like you are enjoying yourself.
Aren't you having fun? Is there problem?

2. Vegetarians don't eat meat, they eat vegetables and fruit.

Don't make him greasy hamburger; make him healthy salad instead.

3. We finally found apartment, but we don't have furniture yet. There

is furniture store just around the corner and they have pretty good
selection of beds. I think we'll start there.

4. Samir works for Egyptian company which specializes in information

technology. He is going to European conference next month to
discuss research on online sales in North Africa.

5. I love chocolate, but my husband doesn't. I want to get cat, but he

hates cats. We don't agree on anything, but I still think we make great
couple.

6. While I was in Japan, I stayed in hotel with walls made of paper. We

ate rice with every meal. It was quite unique experience.

7. I wanted to buy new smartphone, but the salesman didn't

have information on the model I wanted. I need help
making decision before I buy anything.

8. How much does ticket cost? Unfortunately, I don't have money with
me right now. Can I pay with ATM card? What about credit card?

9. He won award for his new science fiction novel called "Launch". Evidently, it's
about astronaut who gets trapped in space for more
than year. It sounds like incredible book.

10. He loves classical music, so he went to university where he could

study the violin. That's unusual major, but he is so good I'm sure he'll
find work as concert violinist.

A(An) vs. The

USE 9

A and AN are called indefinite articles. "Indefinite" means "not specific".

Use A(AN) when you are talking about a thing in general, NOT a specific thing.

Examples:

 I need a phone. Not a specific phone, any phone

 Mark wants a bicycle. Not a particular bicycle, a bicycle in general
 Do you have a driver's license? In general

Use A(AN) when talking about a thing which is new, unknown, or introduced to a
listener for the first time. Also use A(AN) when you are asking about the existence of
something.

Examples:

 I have a car. The car is being introduced for the first time.
 Tom is a teacher. This is new information to the listener.
 Is there a dictionary in your backpack? Asking about the existence of the
dictionary

Similarly, use A(AN) to introduce what type of thing we are talking about.
Examples:

 That is an excellent book. Describing the kind of book

 Do you live in a big house? Asking about the kind of house
 I ate a thick, juicy steak. Describing the kind of steak

REMEMBER: You cannot use A(AN) with plural nouns because A(AN) means "one" or
"a single".

Examples:

 I saw a bears in Yellowstone National Park. Not Correct

 I saw bears in Yellowstone National Park. Correct

USE 10

THE is called a definite article. "Definite" means "specific". Use THE when talking about
something which is already known to the listener or which has been previously
mentioned, introduced, or discussed.

Examples:

 I have a cat. The cat is black.

 There is a book in my backpack. The book is very heavy.
 Do you know where I left the car keys? The listener knows which specific car
keys you are talking about.
 Do you own a car? Is the car blue? You assume they do have a car after asking
about it in the first sentence.
 Nobody lives on the Moon. The Moon is known to everyone.

IMPORTANT: You can use THE with both singular nouns and plural nouns.

Examples:

 I saw the bear in Yellowstone National Park. Correct

 I saw the bears in Yellowstone National Park. Correct

USE 11

Many clauses and phrases make the noun known to the listener by telling the listener
which person or thing we are talking about. Let's look at an example sentence:

Can you give me the book on the table.

We use THE in this sentence because the phrase "on the table" tells the listener which
book we are referring to. We are not talking about other books, we are talking about a
specific book that the listener can see or already knows about. Learning to recognize
such identifying clauses and phrases will help you use THE correctly.

Examples:

 Did you read the book which I gave you?

 He didn't like the movie that you suggested.
 He loved the dessert with chocolate and cherries.
 The phone on my desk belongs to Ken.
 Did you know the man who was talking to Leonie?

HOWEVER: Not all clauses and phrases make the noun known to the listener. Some
are simply descriptive. They add extra information, but they do not tell the listener which
specific thing we are talking about.

Examples:

 He bought the house with a big backyard. This combination tells the listener
which specific house he bought.
 He bought a house with a big backyard. This combination tells the listener what
kind of house he bought, but not the specific house he bought.

Exercises:

Choose A, AN or THE for each blank below:

1. My mother is doctor and my father is author.

2. Cindy recommended good dentist, but dentist doesn't have any

openings for two months.

3. Mt. Hood is volcano in Oregon. It's very beautiful mountain.

4. Sam recommended book to Lisa. She didn't like book at all.

5. Do you have vacuum? I dropped piece of cake, and I need to

clean it up.
6. Honey, where's vacuum? I can't find it. It was in closet, but now

it's not there.

7. Do you have dictionary? I don't have one, and I need to look

up word.

8. Do you have passport? You need passport to travel outside

of country.

9. There's big bear in backyard. I think bear is looking

for something to eat.

10. Do you have computer? I have laptop and iPad.

1. A: What's wrong?

B: I have bad headache.

2. A: Why was today's class cancelled?

B: Because teacher is sick.

3. A: What does he do?

B: He's engineer.

4. A: What did Tom buy?

B: He bought new camera.

5. A: How long does it take to get there?

B: It takes about hour.

6. A: I want to change the channel.

B: OK, remote control is over there.

7. A: Why can't Shelly travel?

B: She doesn't have passport.

8. A: Where does Barbara live?

B: In apartment on 5th Avenue.

9. A: Oh no, where is it?

B: Don't worry, key is in my pocket.

10. A: I don't understand what this word means.

B: You need to buy dictionary.

1. Did you see movie about Dian Fossey's work with mountain gorillas? It
was amazing film.

2. I love good movie about historical figures or historical events. I thought "Lincoln"
was fantastic. And Daniel Day-Lewis was great in film.

3. I would love to take luxury cruise next year to exotic location such as
Indonesia or Panama.

4. Jimmy did not enjoy cruise to Alaska because it was too cold and rainy. The
weather ruined entire trip.

5. Let's find place where we can just sit for couple of hours, drink some
coffee, and have good chat.
 6. That is place where Sidney proposed to Meryl. Isn't that beautiful
location?

7. Suddenly, password Sandra always used to log in to her email didn't work
anymore. Somebody had hacked in and changed password.

8. When Nick was on safari in Tanzania, he saw cheetah hunting prey. He took
some beautiful video of cheetah.

9. Did you enjoy book I recommended to you? Wasn't that exciting

novel?

10. I need smartphone which allows me to check my email and use Facebook. I
really want phone with good battery life.

1. John bought new car last week. Unfortunately, car broke down after
just two days.

2. We went to movie yesterday. Even though it got good

reviews, movie was absolutely terrible. I was so mad, I went to box office
and asked for my money back.

3. Our teacher gave us test today. It was really hard test. There

were questions on there which I didn't even understand.

4. Excuse me, is there post office around here? I need to buy stamp.

5. We have beautiful lake behind our house. Every winter, lake freezes

over and we can go ice skating. When I was kid, I used to spend hours

skating back and forth across ice.

6. Carrie works for amazing organization; organization

provides food and supplies for children in developing world.

7. A: Is there water on Moon?

B: Yes, scientists have discovered ice there.

8. When I turned on my new laptop, screen exploded! Luckily, it

has good warranty. Either they will replace broken screen or send

me brand new laptop.

9. A: I know great new restaurant called Mumbai on 8th Avenue.

It's Indian restaurant with incredible food.

B: Oh yeah, I know that restaurant; chef is good friend of mine.

10. Wow, I can't believe how much gallon of gas costs these days.

If price keeps going up, I'm going to buy electric car.

. They are building new mall downtown. I heard that mall will

house movie theater, great restaurants, and ice skating rink.

2. We went to awful party last night. Ugh, music was

bad, people were boring, and food was terrible. I had terrible
time.

3. A: Excuse me, do you have time? I'm supposed to meet friend here at

8 PM but friend hasn't arrived yet.

B: I'm sorry, I'm not wearing watch, but I think there is clock at the
entrance to this building.

4. I didn't know you had tattoo. Is that spider? That's weird

thing to have tattooed on your arm. Did it hurt when you got tattoo?

5. I have awesome recipe for chocolate cake. My grandmother gave

me recipe, and it goes great with big scoop of vanilla ice

cream.
6. A: Hello, I'd like to mail postcard.

B: OK, that will be 33 cents. Oh! You forgot to address postcard.

A: Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you noticed that. Can I borrow pen?

7. I'm reading such interesting book. It's about man who decides to leave

society and walk into wilderness in Alaska. It's called "Into the Wild", and they

made book into movie. I love stories like that.

8. A: What is "capital city"?

B: Well, "capital city" is political center of country.

9. A: What is capital city of Canada?

B: Ummm, I think capital is Ottawa.

10. We stayed in extraordinary hotel room in Las Vegas. Not only

did hotel room have Jacuzzi and huge flat-screen TV, it also

had large terrace with unbelievable view over city.