The general way: using 'a' and 'an'

1.213 'A' and 'an' are the commonest general determiners. They are used to talk about things or people in an indefinite way. You put 'a' or 'an' in front of the singular form of a count noun.

We've killed a pig.

He was eating an apple.

An old lady was calling to him.

1.214 You use 'a' when the following word begins with a consonant sound.

...a piece...a good teacher...a language class.

This includes some words that begin with a vowel in their written form, because the first sound is a 'y' sound, /j/.

...a university...a European language.

You use 'an' when the following word begins with a vowel sound.

...an example...an art exhibition...an early train.

This includes some words that begin with the letter 'h' in their written form, because the 'h' is not pronounced.

...an honest politician...quarter of an hour.

'A' is usually pronounced /ə/. 'An' is usually pronounced /ə/.

1.215 You usually use 'a' or 'an' when you are mentioning someone or something for the first time.

She picked up a book.

After weeks of looking, we eventually bought a house.

A colleague and I got some money to do research on rats.

1.216 You can use a noun group consisting of just 'a' or 'an' and a noun.

I got a postcard from Susan.

The FBI is conducting an investigation.

At other times, you may want to add modifiers or qualifiers to the group to give more information about the person or thing you are referring to.

I met a Swedish girl on the train from Copenhagen.

I've been reading an interesting article in The Economist.

The information was contained in an article on biology.

I chose a picture that reminded me of my own country.

For more information about modifiers and qualifiers, see Chapter 2.

1.217 You can also use 'a' or 'an' in a noun group after a link verb, as the complement of a clause, to give more information about someone or something.

She is a model and an artist.

His father was an alcoholic.

Noise was considered a nuisance.

Sometimes the new information is given by a modifier or a qualifier, rather than by the noun itself.

His brother was a sensitive child.

I met the vicar. He was a worried man.

For more information about link verbs and complements, see Chapter 3.

'a' and 'an' with uncount nouns 1.218 Although you do not normally use determiners with uncount nouns, you can use 'a' or 'an' with an uncount noon when it is modified or qualified.

A general education is perhaps more important than an exact knowledge of some particular theory.

She had an eagerness for life.

Everything went on with a friendliness that was uncommon in such circles.

using individuals to generalize 1.219 You can use 'a' or 'an' with a noun when you are using one individual person or thing to make a general statement about all people or things of that type. For example, if you say 'A gun must be kept in a safe place', you are talking about an individual gun in order to make a general statement about all guns.

A computer can only do what you program it to do.

A dog likes to eat far more meat than a human being.

An unemployed married farm-worker got parish relief.

This is not the usual way of referring to groups. Normally, if you want to make a statement about all the people or things of a particular kind, you use the plural form of a noun without a determiner. See paragraph 1.212 for more information about this.

nouns referring to one thing only 1.220 'A' and 'an' are sometimes used with singular nouns such as 'sun', 'moon', and 'sky' which refer to just one thing. You normally use 'the' with these nouns, but you use 'a' or 'an' when you are drawing attention to some special feature by adding a modifier or qualifier to the noun. This use is particularly common in literature.

We drove under a gloomy sky.

A weak sun shines on the promenade.

For more information on singular nouns, see paragraphs 1.35 to 1.41.