articles- (part-2 of 7) a or an

Md. Abdul Kader Lecturer

Department of EnglishCambrian College

Mobile: +8801715447430Email : [email protected]

Welcome to all of youEnglish Grammar

Class: VI-XII

04/11/2023Article- A or An 2

___ honest boy is he who never tells a lie.

A or An


Lesson: THE SELECTION OF ‘A’ OR

‘AN’


Learning Outcome

• say when to use article “A”.• say when to use article

“An”.• complete some exercises.

By the end of

the lesson

you will be able

to …


A or An?

Discrimination between: a and an

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 6

A or An?The choice of indefinite (a/an) 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.


Rules of using “A”

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 8

Rule-1 :A"A" goes before all words that begin with consonant sounds. For example:

a cat a dog a rose a woman

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Article- A or An 9

Rule-1 :AIn a more detail the letter “a” should be used before all words beginning with a consonant sound except silent h (an honor) and before words beginning with vowels that represent combined consonant and vowel sounds (university, unit). For example:

a hyphen a horse an honorable

peacean honest

error


Rule-1 :AMore examples:

a unit a boy a union a European

a one-horse town a yard a youth a bottle

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Article- A or An 11

Rule-2 :AIf “O” is pronounced as “wa” ,then a is used instead of “an” .Example:

a one legged sailor

a one man

tribunal

a one dollar note

a one-eyed man

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Article- A or An 12

Rule-2 :ABut if O” is pronounced as ( first vowel of Bangla) and (the last vowel of Bangla) then an is used instead of a.Example:

an old man an olive an

operator

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Article- A or An 13

Rule-3 :AIf the initial letter of the word is “u, eu, ew” and they are pronounced as “ew” ,then “a” is used instead of “an”.Example:

a useful metal

a united country

a usurper a U-boat


Rule-3 :AMore examples:

a union a uniform a used napkin a U.S. ship

a university student

a useful animal a ewe a eulogy

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Article- A or An 15

Rule-3 :ABut if “U” is pronounced as ( second vowel of Bangla ) then an is used instead of a.Example:

an ugly bird an unknown woman an ultimate goal


Rules of using “An”

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Article- A or An 17

Rule-1: An"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels. (a, e, i, o, u).Example:

an apple an apricot an egg an idea

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Article- A or An 18

Rule-2: AnBefore a word which begins with a vowel sound or a silent ‘h’. Example:

an houran heir to the throne

an honest error

an honorable

peace

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Article- A or An 19

Rule-2: AnBut, when a word begins with an aspirated h (a speech sound followed by a puff of breath or the speech sound represented by English h), correct article is a.

a hotel a horsea

hospital

a hill

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 20

Rule-2: An

a honeyco

mba house a hymn

a historical

novel

More Examples:

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Article- A or An 21

Rule-3: AnBefore a letter or an acronym (Abbreviation) or before numerals, choose "a" or "an" according to the way the letter or numeral is pronounced.Example: An MSDS (material safety data sheet) was used to record the data.An SPCC plan (Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures plan) will help us prepare for the worst.

An M.A An M.B.B.S An L.L.B. An M.P.

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Article- A or An 22

Rule-3: AnMore Examples:

an F.B.I. detectiv

e

a Rs.-3045 bill

a B.Sc. an S.P.

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 23

Rule-4: AnIf the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article.

a broken egg

an unbroken

egg

a schedule

class

an important

class

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 24

Rule-5: AnRemember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles are also used to indicate membership in a group:

I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)

John Sullivan is an Irishman. (John Sullivan is a member of the people known as Irish.)

Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people known as Buddhists.)

Teac

her

John

Su

lliva

n Se

iko


Group WorkPut the nouns of the next slide into the groups they belong.

A An


The nouns__ icicle

_____horrible movie

__ eggplant

__ artichoke

__ unicorn

__ bingo game

__ used fork

__fine opera

__ oak

__ rotten plum

__umbrella

_ euphemism


Check your answerA An

Horrible movieUsed forkFine opera

UnicornRotten plumEuphemism

IcicleEggplant

OakArtichoke

bingo gameUmbrella


Pair workIn the following phrases, supply either a or an :

1. ____ shoe2. ____ idiot3. ____ good job4. ____ television5. ____ M.B.A6. ____ uncle7. ____ historian8. ____ apple9. ____ heir

10. ____ eagle11. ____ chair12. ____ opera13. ____ watch14. ____ television15. ___ earthquake16. ____ intern17. ____ plant18. ____ egg

An

A

A

AAn

An

AA

A

A

AnAn

An

AnA

AnAn

An

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 29

EvaluationIn the following phrases, supply either a or an :1. __ eraser __ color __ urgency2. __ orange __ work __ apricot 3. __ number __ picture __ t shirt 4. __ airplane __ restaurant __ umbrella5. __ desk __ bakery __ ugly

guy6. __ cookies __ friend __ eye

AnAn

An

AnAn

AnAnAn

A

A

A

A A

A

A

A

A

A

04/11/2023

Article- A or An 30

Home workPractise these rules and find if you face any difficulties.


Departure

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