The Indefinite Article
1. The indefinite article
The indefinite articles are: a and an.
We use a in front of a consonant sound
a book, a table, a hotel, a moment,
a tall father, a blue car, a nice pie, a fire
We use an in front of a vowel sound
an apple, an hour, an architect, an animal,
an important decision, an efficient worker
The plural of a/an is zero or some/any
a cat – cats, some cats
a cinema – cinemas, some cinemas
2. The use of the indefinite article
| when we mention something for the first time: | ‘He’s just bought a house.’ ‘Wow. That’s fantastic.’ |
| when we talk about one item of a group: | I’d like to buy a car. |
| with adjective + noun: | We saw a huge, black panther. |
| when talking about somebody’s job: | She is a high school teacher. |
| when talking about a kind/example of something: | We bottle a fine wine. (= a type of fine wine) |
| when talking about amounts: | a kilo of potatoes, a thousand litre of water |
| difference between a and one: | I’d like a slice of cake please. ‘
But: ‘I wanted only one slice, not two!’ |
| when talking about frequency, price, distance (meaning per) | 5 miles an hour, two pound a kilo, twice a week |
| When talking about illnesses: | I have a cold. I have a headache.
I have a pain in my arm. Except: flue, blood pressure and plural diseases (measles, mumps) |
| With what and such when using singular, countable nouns: | What a nice day!
Such a lovely dog. |
Ready to test your knowledge?
Put the grammar rules above into practice with the challenge below.
