Sunday 13 November 2011

The indefinite article - a

The indefinite article - a

The indefinte article is the a is the same for all genders.
a boy, a girl, a cat
The indefinte article has no plural form.
a boy - boys
We use an if the following word starts with a vowel.

the following word starts with a consonantthe following word starts with a vowel
a boyan aunt
a schoolan old school
a girlan American girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

a unitan uncle
This u sounds like a consonant, so we use a.This u sounds like a vowel, so we use an.

Use of the indefinite article a/an

- before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly)

We have English 4 times a week.
I go on holiday twice a year.
Our car can do 220 kilometres an hour.
Tomatoes are $2 a kilo.

- before phrases of jobs

My father is a car mechanic.

- with a noun complement

He is a good boy.

- before phrases of nationality

Bruce Springsteen is an American.

- half/quite

We need half a pound of sugar.
This is quite a good story.

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