In this lesson, you are gonna learn how to make sentences using “a” and “an”
“A” and “An” are indefinite articles. An article is a word used to modify a noun, which is a person, place, object, or idea.
We only use a and an with singular countable nouns.
These are some examples of sentences with the indefinite articles A and AN
- I have a dog and a cat
- That was an excellent strategy
- There is a University where you live
- She is an intelligent girl
- There is a man outside the house
- I am going to buy a house in an hour
- She is a teacher.
- She doesn’t own a car.
- I saw a bear at the zoo.
- She lived in an island for many years
Let’s learn how to make sentences using “a” and “an” correctly
Table of Contents
Video about the Indefinite Articles in English
This is a video that explains how to use the Indefinite articles in English
How to Use A and An
We use the word a when this precedes a word that begins with a consonant, for example:
| I have a hat |
| I want to buy a red hat |
| He is gonna make a decision |
| She wants to buy a new computer |
| Please, Give me a piece of cake |
| She has to make a cake for the party |
| I have to get a good job, my family depends on it |
We use the word an when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel, for example
| I have an interesting story to tell you |
| That’s an old car |
| I need to work for an hour before we go to dinner. |
| She is gonna bring a small gift to Priscilla |
| She has to make an important decision |
| My mother is an honest woman |
| It is an honor to be on your team |
| I want to eat an apple |
| I have to go to an important place tonight |
A and An + Pronunciation
Sometimes with words that begin with h, the h sound is not pronounced. Unfortunately there is no rule about when the h is silent.
an + nouns starting with silent “h”:
- an hour
- an honest man
- an honor
a + nouns starting with a pronounced “h“:
- a horse
- a human emotion
- a historic day
- a hero
Pay attention to how a and an is used with these words:
- a European country
- a university
- a one-conference
- a United States citizen
- an FBI Agent
- a U‑turn.
These are some examples of sentence using the vocabulary presented in this part of the lesson.
- I would like to visit an European country
- He is an FBI agent
- A university in Norway is promoting recycling
- It was an honor to meet such a wonderful people
- He is an honest man, he would never do that
- She is not a united states citizen
- I saw a horse when I was coming from the supermarket
- I will meet you here within an hour
- Today is a historic day
Don’t use A and And in these cases
We don’t use a/an before uncountable nouns:
- I could have
arice - We just made
apasta
