APracticalEnglishGrammar.doc


1 Articles and one, a little/a few, this, that
1 a/an (the indefinite article)
The form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a vowel with a consonant sound:
a man a hat a university a European
a one-way street
The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or words beginning with a mute h:
an apple an island an uncle
an egg an onion an hour
or individual letters spoken with a vowel sound:
an L-plate an MP an SOS an `x` a/an is the same for all genders:
a man a woman an actor an actress a table
2 Use of a/an a/an is used:
A Before a singular noun which is countable (i.e. of which there is more than one) when it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing:
/ need a visa. They live in a flat. He bought an ice-cream.
B Before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class of things:
A car must be insured =
All cars/Any car must be insured.
A child needs love =
All children need/Any child needs love.
C With a noun complement. This includes names of professions:
It was an earthquake. She`ll be a dancer. He is an actor.
D In certain expressions of quantity: a lot of a couple
a great many a dozen (but one dozen is also possible)
a great deal of
E With certain numbers
a hundred a thousand (See 349 ) Before half when half follows a whole number
ll/2 kilos = one and a half kilos or a kilo and a half But 1/2 kg = half a kilo (no a before half), though a + half + noun is sometimes possible
a half holiday a half portion a half share With 1/3 1/4, 1/5 etc a is usual a third, a quarter etc , but one is also possible (See 350 )
F In expressions of price, speed, ratio etc
5p a kilo £1 a metre sixty kilometres an hour
lOp a dozen four times a day (Here a/an = per )
G In exclamations before singular, countable nouns
Such a long queue` What a pretty girl` But Such long queues` What pretty girls` (Plural nouns, so no article See 3 )
H a can be placed before Mr/Mrs/Miss + surname
a Mr Smith a Mrs Smith a Miss Smith
a Mr Smith means `a man called Smith` and implies that he is a stranger to the speaker Mr Smith, without a, implies that the speaker knows Mr Smith or knows of his existence
(For the difference between a/an and one, see 4 For a few and a little, see 5 )
3 Omission of a/an a/an is omitted
A Before plural nouns
a/an has no plural form. So the plural of a dog is dogs, and of
an egg is eggs
B Before uncountable nouns (see 13)
C Before names of meals, except when these are preceded by an adjective
We have breakfast at eight
He gave us a good breakfast
The article is also used when it is a special meal given to celebrate something or in someone`s honour
/ was invited to dinner (at their house, in the ordinary way) but
/ was invited to a dinner given to welcome the new ambassador
4 a/an and one
A a/an and one (adjective)
1 When counting or measuring time, distance, weight etc we can use either a/an or one for the singular:
£1 = a/one pound £1,000,000 = a/one million pounds (See chapter 36.)
But note that in The rent is £100 a week the a before week is not replaceable by one (see 2 F)
In other types of statement a/an and one are not normally interchangeable, because one + noun normally means `one only/not more than one` and a/an does not mean this
A shotgun is no good (It is the wrong sort of thing )
One shotgun is no good (I need two or three )
2 Special uses of one
(a) one (adjective/pronoun) used with another/others
One (boy) wanted to read, another/others wanted to watch TV
(See 53 )
One day he wanted his lunch early, another day he wanted it late
(b) one can be used before day/week/month/year/summer/winter etc or before the name of the day or month to denote a particular time when something happened
One night there was a terrible storm One winter the snow fell early One day a telegram arrived