「A」と「An」の使い方

"A" vs. "An" - When to Use # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Random New Articles Grammar Tips & Articles » "A" vs. "An" - When to Use This Grammar.com article is about "A" vs. "An" - When to Use — enjoy your reading! 2:18 min read 476,360 Views Ed Good — Grammar Tips Font size: A Historic Topic - A vs. An Writers sometimes confuse the use of the articles a and an . We were all taught that a precedes a word starting with a consonant and that an precedes a word starting with a vowel ( a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y ). Here’s the secret to making the rule work: The rule applies to the sound of the letter beginning the word, not just the letter itself. The way we say the word will determine whether or not we use a or an . If the word begins with a vowel sound, you must use an . If it begins with a consonant sound, you must use a . For example, the word hour begins with the consonant h . But the h is silent, so the word has a vowel sound. Hence: an hour The rule works the other way as well. Take the word university . It begins with the vowel u . But the u is pronounced as if it begins with the consonant y . Hence: a university But consider the word umbrella , also starting with u . It starts with the vowel sound uh . Hence: an umbrella Another vowel with a consonant sound is o . When spoken, the letter can sound as if it begins with the consonant w . Thus, we use the a : a one-room apartment a once-famous actor Articles with Words Beginning with ‘h,’ a or an The consonant giving us the most trouble is probably h . When the h begins a word and the first syllable is strongly pronounced, you should use a . a history of Europe (accent falls on his ) a hero (accent falls on he ) But when the beginning h is weakly pronounced ( historic, habitual ), you may use an , especially in British English. an historic occasion (hisTORic) an habitual offender (haBITual) But these usages are becoming increasingly old-fashioned, so you may also use a . a historic occasion a habitual offender Articles with Acronyms, a or an Finally, the rule applies to acronyms as well. If you pronounce a letter as a letter and it begins with a vowel sound, you should precede it with an . The consonants with vowel sounds include f, h, l, m, n, r, s, and x . He flew in an SST. He fired an M‑1. He attended an FDA hearing. By the same token, if a vowel letter, with a consonant sound, is pronounced as a letter , you should use a . He made a U‑turn. Got it? So what is your grade? An A ? A B ? Surely not an F . Hard Copy You may download our entire discussion of the Parts of Speech. Simply download the Grammar eBook Understanding the Parts of Speech . Previous: A , An , The - The Articles Next: Other One-Word Adjectives Rate this article: 4.1 / 72 votes Email Print Have a discussion about this article with the community: https://www.grammar.com/a-vs-an-when-to-use Newest Oldest Popular 50 Comments 0:00 0:00 clear Notify me of new comments via email. Publish stevenm.19065 Stop calling phenomena related to language, i.e. grammar, as rules. That's why people, especially teachers, are confused. It's a linguistic phenomenon. And you missed an opportunity here to clarify that speakers don't "add n" to form an. more » Like Reply 1 year ago kevinw.66518 Totally lost now :( Like Reply 3 3 years ago muhammady.49266 While using the term NCS (Networked Control System), should we use the term as 'a NCS' or 'an NCS' Like Reply 4 years ago bradleyw.21835 If you say in your mind when you read the letters NCS ("en see es:"), then the letter N is pronounced beginning with a short "e" sound. So you would use "an NCS". If you say in your mind, Network Control System when you see the acronym, then you would use "a NCS" as YOU read this as "a Network Control System" even though there are only 3 letters written in the document. more » Like Reply 2 3 years ago thel36acyheres I thought U referred to the record label NCS (NoCopyrightSounds) Like Reply 1 2 years ago Trolley2991001 990 stars Like Reply 1 4 years ago goode33 what about symbols like ~ for approximately before a word or number. Do you use the sound of the symbol or the word after ( an ~3 acre area or a ~3 acre area) Like Reply 1 4 years ago bradleyw.21835 If you say "approximately" when you read it (or say it in your mind), then you use "an". If you skip over the "~" when you read it, then you use "a". Like Reply 1 3 years ago Paul What about the following? An Historic Neighborhood Community A or An Like Reply 5 years ago bradleyw.21835 The author talks about this. Look in the article for "historic". Like Reply 1 3 years ago Noisha Studieren I am still thinking what are we supposed to look for then? Are we only supposed to look for ah and uh vowel sound? Like h silent, ah=an for hour and uh/uhm= an for umbrella? If a vowel or word gets yu vowel sound then that becomes a ? Trying to understand this interesting concept :) more » Like Reply 5 years ago Gina N it is very simple...if a word begins with the sound of a vowel then you use "an" before it. If a word begins with the sound of a consonant then you use "a" before it Like Reply 6 5 years ago Sathira Kumarasinghe Thanks!!! Like Reply 1 5 years ago Jose Alberto Justiniani This is gold, Jerry. Gold! Like Reply 4 5 years ago Michael Morales these pretzels are making me thirsty Like Reply 3 5 years ago Noisha Studieren Most of the parts were quite helpful. Thank you. I am not sure about U-turn though. Like Reply 3 6 years ago Claudia Carlsen It's definitely a U-Turn. Saying "an U-Turn" makes no sense. Like Reply 3 6 years ago Bob Hanson A is used with a U-turn because the hard U has a Y sound. Like Reply 3 5 years ago Noisha Studieren Thank you guys Like Reply 1 5 years ago Stefan Alexandru Kocsis Claudia Carlsen it'll sound like a new turn Like Reply 5 years ago STANDS4 Claudia Carlsen Indeed... Like Reply 5 years ago Rehema Waithaka I've been speaking english all my life and this info just never occured to me. I'm quite mind blown! Like Reply 2 6 years ago Rick Papineau SST is not an acronym. M-1 isn't, nor is FDA. Should we trust your opinion when your article includes such errors? Like Reply 6 years ago Claudia Carlsen SST stands for supersonic transport. I would call that an acronym. The Free Dictionary places M-1 under an acronym listing. FDA is an anacronym that stands for Food and Drug Administration. What is your definition of an anacronym? more » Like Reply 4 6 years ago Tams Fletcher Claudia Carlsen An acronym is a type of abbreviation in which the first letters of the words being abbreviated form a pronouncable word such as NASA, LASER, and RAM. In contrast, an initialism is not pronounced as a word, for example, FDA, M-1, SST. Dictionaries are starting to define acronym to include initialisms because they are so commonly confused. more » Like Reply 4 5 years ago Talita Brits Tams Fletcher Thank you Tams, I learned something new today. Both from you and the article. However splitting hairs apart, this article was already a lot for me, someone who speaks very good english. I can imagine they wanted to keep it a bit simpler because otherwise people who really want this information (English language students) would not be able to find this article useful, but just too overwhelming. more » Like Reply 2 5 years ago Elvie Pacturan thanks for the useful info Like Reply 2 6 years ago Aman Sandhu Thanks for these tips! I just read a publicly posted US government document where they used "a" before the abbreviation "FFS" and it seemed wrong to me. Your article confirmed that my teachers in India taught me correctly. more » Like Reply 1 6 years ago Levi Hawj Why teachers! WHY! (to my HS teachers) Like Reply 1 6 years ago Marcangy Cange thank you Like Reply 1 6 years ago Thomas Snyder Cleared up a debate at work...I was wrong. Like Reply 2 7 years ago Terrie Thorn Bruner Great information. Very easy to understand and use. You know more than all the experts! Like Reply 4 7 years ago STANDS4 Thanks Terrie, appreciated! Like Reply 7 years ago David Parker Well done. Like Reply 1 8 years ago STANDS4 Thank you, David! Like Reply 8 years ago Claudia Niño Very usefull post. Thanks to Kathleen for the addition. Like Reply 2 8 years ago Bob Harris Recently in th newspaper there was reference to "an New Jersey...: I have seen this before elsewhere-Why? Like Reply 1 9 years ago Kathleen Leger Ahead of the letter R when it's the first letter in an abbreviation. As in "An R.O.E." or "A ROE" Like Reply 1 9 years ago Murray Callahan Great post but not awsome, things like the Aurora Borealis are awsome! Like Reply 3 9 years ago Gage Preston Awesome post! Like Reply 2 9 years ago STANDS4 Thanks Gage! Like Reply 9 years ago Chip Jones an independant organization-OR-a independent organization? Like Reply 1 9 years ago Karen Everett Lewis An. The 'n' makes the pronunciation easier, which is the origin of "an" vs. "a". Like Reply 2 9 years ago Chip Jones Karen Everett Lewis There is a vitamin advertisement on TV and the girl says "the vitamins are approved by a independent organization". It sounds wrong! Like Reply 2 9 years ago Claudia Carlsen Chip Jones That's definitely wrong. I am finding several wrong usages online these days. There are people who are using "a" incorrectly. It's becoming the norm and it's annoying. Like Reply 6 years ago Piku Samanta o ho god why are you create the english language.? Like Reply 3 9 years ago Stanley Clarke Find it a little confusing ,with the "an" rule must follow consonants is not consistent .Surely there must be an easier explanation!!! Like Reply 6 10 years ago Teressa Allen There is Stanley. If you are talking about AN ITEM then use AN. If you are talking about two or more things, then use AND. (She and I) (An apple) Like Reply 1 9 years ago Kanocia Gayden Teressa Allen what about for a & an (an elephant) OR (an hour) or (a hour) Like Reply 1 9 years ago Jin KLo Kanocia Gayden i'ts all about the sound.,, :D Like Reply 2 9 years ago