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A/an and the English Grammar Today Cambridge Dictionary

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A/anandthe

fromEnglishGrammarToday

A/anandthe:meaning

A/anandthearearticles.Theyareatypeofdeterminerandtheygobeforeanoun.

A/anbeforeanounshowsthatwhatisreferredtoisnotalreadyknowntothespeaker,listener,writer
and/orreader(itistheindefinitearticle):

Doyouhaveacar?

A: Doyouliveinahouse?

B: No,actually,Iliveinanapartment.
Thebeforeanounshowsthatwhatisreferredtoisalreadyknowntothespeaker,listener,writerand/or
reader(itisthedefinitearticle):
Wheredidweparkthecar?(Thespeakerandthelistenerknowwhatcarisbeingreferredto.)
Wehadtopainttheapartmentbeforewesoldit.(Thespeakerandthelistenerknowwhatapartment
isbeingreferredto.)
Themakesanounspecific.

Compare
Haveyou
beentoan
icerink?

Haveyoueverbeentoanyicerink?(andoesntmakethenounice
rinkspecific)

Haveyou
beento
theice
rink?

Thespeakerandlistenerknowtheicerinkwhichisbeingreferredto
(e.g.theoneintheirtown/thelocalone).Themakesthenounicerink
specific.

Notspecific
Wouldyoulikeanapple?

Specific(theoneyouandIknow)
Wouldyouliketotrytheapplepie?

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Wouldyoulikeanapple?

A/an and the English Grammar Today Cambridge Dictionary

Wouldyouliketotrytheapplepie?

Doyouhaveacat?

Haveyouseenthecat?

Seealso:
Determiners(the,my,some,this)

DownloadaFree
Audiobook
Turnanytimeinto
storytimewithAudible.
Startyourfreetrialtoday!

Whendoweuseaandwhendoweusean?
Inspeaking,weusea//beforeaconsonantsound:
acarahouseabigtruckawheelagreyday

Warning:
Somewordsthatbeginwithavowelletterinwritinghaveaconsonantsound:
/ju:natd//ju:niv:sti//wn/
aunitedgroupauniversityaoneyearoldchild
Weusean/n/beforeavowelsound:
anappleanoldshoeanorchestraanumbrella

Warning:
Somewordsthatbeginwithaconsonantletterinwritinghaveavowelsound:
/na(r)/anhour

/nempi:ri:/anMP3player

Howdowepronouncethe?
Wepronouncetheintwowaysdependingonwhetherthesoundwhichcomesaftertheisavowelora
consonant:
/i:/beforevowelsounds
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/i:ekst/theexit

/i:pl/theapple

//beforeconsonantsounds

/ti:m/theteam

/ju:nin/theunion

Whendoweusearticles?
A/anandthewithtypesofnouns
Countablenouns
Weonlyusea/anwithsingularcountablenouns:
Ihaveasisterandabrother.
Thatwasanexcellentmeal.
Wecanusethewithsingularandpluralcountablenouns:
Thelionroared.

Thetreefell.

Thelionsroared.

Thetreesfell.

Uncountablenouns
Wedontusea/anbeforeuncountablenouns:
CouldIhavericeinsteadofpotatoeswithmyfish?
Not:CouldIhavearice
Ihopewehaveniceweather.
Not:Ihopewehaveaniceweather.
Wecanusethebeforeuncountablenounswhentheyrefertoaspecificexample:
ThericeweboughtintheThaishopismuchbetterthanthesupermarketrice.
Theweatherwasawfullastsummer.
Totalkaboutanindividualquantityormorethanonequantityofanuncountablenoun,weuse
expressionssuchasabitof,apieceofora[specificmeasure]of:
Thatsanamazingbitofnews.
Not:Thatsanamazingnews.
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Not:Thatsanamazingnews.
Wejustmadeabigbowlofpasta.
Not:Wejustmadeapasta.
CouldIhavealitreofmilk,please?
Not:CouldIhaveamilk,please?

Generalnouns
Weonlyusethewithgeneralpluralnounswhenwearereferringtoaspecificsetwithinageneralclass
ofpeopleorthings.

Compare
Booksaresoimportantinmylife.

Imeanallbooksingeneral.

Thebookswerealloverthefloor.

Imeanspecificbooks(thatyouandIknow).

Wecanmakegeneralnounsspecificbyusinganarticleandaddingmoreinformationafterthenoun.

Lifeiswonderful.(lifein
general)

Thelifeofasoldierisfullofdanger.(specificallythe
lifeofsoldiers,notlifeingeneral)
Shehadalifeofhardwork.(onespecificlife)

Historysometimesrepeats
itself.(historyingeneral)

Hewroteabookonthehistoryofboxing.(specifically
thehistoryofboxing)
Thecountryhasahistoryofgoingtowar.(one
specifichistoryofonecountry)

Inventions,musicalinstrumentsandculturalinstitutions
Whenwetalkingeneralaboutinventions,musicalinstrumentsorculturalinstitutions(suchasthe
cinema,thetheatre,thecircus,theopera,theballet),weoftenusethe:
Thecomputermustbethegreatestinventionever.(Thecomputerasaninventioningeneral,nota
specificcomputer)
Theviolinsoundsdifferenttotheviola.
Iloveanightattheopera.
Seealso:
Nouns

Noarticlebeforedeterminers(any,some,my,this)
Wedontuseanarticlewithotherwordsthatspecifyanoun(determiner),e.g.any,some,my,her,this,

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Wedontuseanarticlewithotherwordsthatspecifyanoun(determiner),e.g.any,some,my,her,this,
that:
Ilovemyjob.
Not:Ilovethemyjob.

Doesshewantthisbook?
Not:Doesshewantthethisbook?

Seealso:
Determiners(the,my,some,this)

Thewiththingsthatareuniversallyknown
Weusethewiththingsknowntoeveryone(thesun,thestars,themoon,theearth,theplanet)because
theyareapartofourphysicalenvironmentorpartofthenaturalworld:
Theearthmovesaroundthesun.
Welayonthegrassandwatchedthestars.

Thewitheverydaythings
Weusethewiththingsthatweknowaspartofourdailylives.Thedoesnotrefertoparticularthingsin
thiscontext.
Idontbuythenewspaperthesedays.ItsfreeontheInternet.(newspapersingeneral)
Theyalwaystakethetrain.(trainsingeneral)

Jobsandprofessions
Whenwetalkaboutapersonsjob,weusea:
Shesagardener.
Hesanambulancedriver.

Places
Weusethewithmountainrangesandsomemountains(theAlps,theEiger),groupsofislands(the
WestIndies),rivers(theDanube),deserts(theGobiDesert),seas(theBlackSea),geographical
regionsorhabitats(theAmazonrainforest),motorways(theM42),thenamesofsomecountries(the
PeoplesRepublicofChina).
WedontusuallyusearticleswithindividualmountainsorlakeswhenthenameincludesMountorLake:
MountFuji,LakeVictoria.Wedontusearticleswithcontinents(Asia),countries(Romania),towns
(Edinburgh),andstreets(LombardStreet).
Seealso:
Geographicalplaces
Nationalities,languages,countriesandregions

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Nationalities,languages,countriesandregions
Placenames

Thewithgroupswithinsociety
Whenwetalkaboutparticulargroupsorpeoplewithinsociety,weusethe+adjective:
Ithinktherichshouldpaymoretaxandthatthepoorshouldntpayany.
Theyoungneedtobeencouragedandsupportedinsociety.

Thewithdates
Whenwesayaspecificdate,weusethe,butwhenwewriteit,wedontusethe:
Speaking:IllseeyouonthetwentyfourthofMay.
Writing:Illseeyouon24thMay.
Whenwetalkaboutmonths,wedontusethe:
MybirthdayisinSeptember.
Mayismyfavouritemonthofall.
Whenwetalkaboutseasonsingeneral,wecanuseeitherinorinthe.Inwithouttheisoftenusedin
moreformalorliterarycontexts:
ThesebirdsarriveinBritaininsummer,andleaveasthewinterbegins.
Inthesummer,weusuallygotothemountains.
Werarelygetsnowinthewinter.
Whenwetalkaboutaspecificseason,weusethe:
Thewinterof1947wasoneofthecoldestinBritain.
Welldefinitelyvisityouinthesummer.(meaningnextsummer)
Seealso:
Nouns

ThewithInternet,radioandnewspaperbutmostlynotwithTV
IlookeditupontheInternet.
Not:oninternet

Shewasontheradioonce.
Not:onradio
Didyouseethatstoryaboutparrotsinthenewspaper?

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Didyouseethatstoryaboutparrotsinthenewspaper?
Not:innewspaper
TheresusuallynothingonTV.(TVmeanstelevision)

Theresusuallynothingonthetelevision.(lesscommon)

Thewithgoto,beat,beinhospital,school,prison
Whenwetalkabouttheactivitythathappensinabuildingratherthanaboutthebuildingitself,wedont
usethe.

Compare
withoutthe

withthe

Shedidntwanttobeinhospitalbutshe
wastooilltogohome.(inhospitalmeans
beingthereasapatient)

Shedidntwanttobeinthe
hospital(inthehospital
meansbeinginthebuilding)

WhenIwasatschool,wedidnthave
computers.(atschoolmeansbeingthereas
astudent)

WhenIwasattheschool(at
theschoolmeansbeinginthe
building)

Wedontusethewithbedwhenwegotheretosleep:
Ialwaysgotobedatelevenoclock.
Not:Ialwaysgotothebed
Wedontusethebeforeworkwhenwetalkabouttheplacewherewedoourjob:
Theygotoworkat8ameverymorning.
Not:Theygotothework
Seealso:
At,onandin(time)

Possessiveexpressions
Wedontusethetorefertoanindividualsbehaviourortopartsofanindividualsbody:
Hespendsmostofhisfreetimeplayingcomputergames.

Not:Hespendsmostofthefreetime
Imustwashmyhands.
Not:Imustwashthehands.
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This,thatandarticles
Wecanusethisinsteadofa/anorthe,andtheseinsteadofzeroarticleorsomewhenwetellstories
andjokestocreateasenseofthepresent:
[beginningofajoke]
Therewasthischickenwhowantedtocrosstheroad(compareTherewasachickenwhowanted
tocrosstheroad)
ThesetouristscameintotherestaurantonceandtheyorderedfifteenIrishcoffees.(compareSome
touristscameintotherestaurantonceandtheyordered)

SpokenEnglish:
Ininformalspeaking,wecanusethatasanalternativetotheinstorieswhenwereferto
somethingfamiliarorknowntothelistener.Thathighlightsthefactthatthethingbeingreferred
toisknowntothespeakerandlistener:
A: Wheredidyoubuyyourskirt?Ireallylikeit.
B: IgotitatthatnewshopnexttoGreensHotel.(compareIgotitatthenewshopnext
toGreensHotel.)

A/anandthe:typicalerrors
Wedontusethewithpluralnounswhenwearereferringtothingsingeneral:
Wehavetoprotectwildanimals.(referringtowildanimalsingeneral)
Not:thewildanimals.
Wedontusethewhenwereferingeneraltosomethingabstractoruncountable:
IloveJapanesefood.(allJapanesefood/Japanesefoodingeneral)
Not:IlovetheJapanesefood.
Wedontusethewhenthenounisnotknowntothelistenerorreader:
LastSunday,wesawafilmcalledNightmare.(Thespeakerdoesntthinkthatthelistenerknowsof
thisfilm.)
Not:wesawthefilmcalledNightmare.
Wedontusetheinsteadofapossessivepronoun:

Thepoliceaskedustoputourhandsup.
Not:Thepoliceaskedustoputthehandsup.
Wedontuseanarticlewithgotobed:
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