OVERVIEW

On this page, you will learn when to use a or an.

First, read the text and study the examples.
Then, listen to audio of the text.

READ & LISTEN

Woman celebrating her new car purchase

Image by Telstar Logistics, CC BY NC 2.0

Read:

We use the indefinite articles a and an to talk about one person or thing that is not specific. It is one example from a group of things that are the same.

Example:

I want to buy a new car.
I eat an apple every day.

Listen:

Image by Let Ideas Compete, CC BY NC ND 2.0

Read:

We use the word an with singular nouns that begin with vowels. There are five (5) vowels in English.

Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu

Example:

I eat an apple every day.
My son has an ear infection.
This sentence is an example.

Listen:

Image by jpalinsad360, CC BY SA 2.0

Read:

We use the word a with singular nouns that begin with consonants. The 21 consonants are all of the letters in the alphabet that are not vowels.

Bb, Cc, Dd, Ff, Gg, Hh, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Example:

You will take a quiz online.
She has a stomachache.
A student was late for class today.