Indefinite article

1. Sounds:




The indefinite articles are A or AN.
We use A before a consonant-sound.
We use AN before a vowel-sound.
The difference depends on the sound of the vowels and consonants, not the spelling!

2. Examples:

a teacher                         an English teacher            
a peach                           an orange
a woman                         an old woman
a house                           an hour 
a man                             an honest man
a useful book                  an heir
a university                     an honor
a European                     an Irish person

3. Use:

A or AN is used before names of professions:

He is a painter.
My sister is studying to be a doctor.
It's really nice to be a student.  

A is used before words like couple, dozen, hundred, thousand, million, ...:

 
A couple of years ago I was living in Britain.
There were a thousand people in the stadium. 

A or AN means 'every' or 'each' in some expressions of time, speed, price,...:

 
She visits me twice a year.
He drives 50 miles an hour.

 

Don't put A or AN before uncountable:

 
I don't like milk.
Silence is golden.
We're having soup for lunch.