A or An?

Sandra Algarín de León

COMU- 2019
Prof. Enoc Díaz Santana
A or An?
Are indefinite forms of the
grammatical article in the English
language and can also represent the
number one .
Is a word that combines with a noun to i
noun marker or determiner.
Discrimination
between:
a and an

in
A or An?

"A" goes before all words that

begin with consonants.
For example:

a cat
A or An?

or:
a dog
A or An?

or:
a rose
A or An?
With one exception:
Use an before unsounded h.
For example:

an honorable peace
A or An?

or:
an honest error
A or An?
"An" goes before all words that
begin with vowels:
For example:

an apricot
A or An?

or:
an egg
A or An?

or:
an idea
A or An?
With two exceptions:

When u makes the same sound

as the y in you, or o makes
the same sound as w in won,
then a is used.
A or An?
Here are some examples:

a union
A or An?
or:

a uniform
A or An?
or:

a unicorn
A or An?
or:

a used napkin
A or An?
or:

a U.S. ship
A or An?
Representing the number one:

In addition to serving as an
article, a and an are also used
as synonyms for the number
one, as in "make a wish", "a
hundred".
A or An?

A and an are also used

to express a proportional
relationship, such as: "a dollar
a day" or "$150 an ounce" or
"A Mars a day helps you work,
rest and play".
A or An?

Notes: The choice of article is

actually based upon the
phonetic (sound) quality of the
first letter in a word, not on
the orthographic (written)
representation of the letter.
A or An?

If the first letter makes a

vowel-type sound, you use "an";
if the first letter would makes a
consonant-type sound, you use
"a."
A or An?

Now, with all these

rules in mind let’s make
and discuss a
practice exercise.

GOOD LUCK!
In the following phrases, supply
either a or an :
1. ____ bingo game 10. ____ artichoke
2. ____ idiot 11. ____ horrible movie
3. ____ good job 12. ____ opera
4. ____ rotten plum 13. ____ fine opera
5. ____ used fork 14. ____ television
6. ____ uncle 15. ____ earthquake
7. ____ historian 16. ____ icicle
8. ____ apple 17. ____ plant
9. ____ hair 18. ____ eggplant
A or An?
For more info about this grammar rules
and more visit:

www.purdueuniversityonlinewritinglab.com

www.wikipedia.com