We use a and an with singular nouns. We use a before a consonant sound:
| a pear | a house | a university (u = /juː/) |
We use an before a vowel sound:
| an apple | an hour | an honest politician |
We make the plural of these phrases with some or any:
| some/any pears | some/any apples |
We also use some and any with uncountable nouns. For more information on uncountable nouns, see the table below.
| some/any bread | some/any information |
| These are some common uncountable nouns: | ice, water, rain, snow, heat, noise, cotton, glass, petrol, money, luggage information, work, homework, advice, news meat, milk, butter, bread, marmalade, food, tea, coffee, sugar, toast, cheese |
| Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form: | petrol (not petrols) bread (not breads) |
| We cannot use a/an with an uncountable noun, but we can use some/any, the, much (not many), such, and my/your/his etc: | a : I always have an egg, and then toast and marmalade for breakfast. some: I’d like some tea, please. the: Look at the snow outside. much: How much luggage have you got? such: We’ve had such wonderful news. |
|
Some nouns can be countable or uncountable: |
I heard a noise from downstairs. (countable) I can’t sleep. The neighbours are making so much noise. (uncountable) |
We use a/an when we do not need to make clear which person or thing we are talking about:
- Yesterday I bought a blouse and a skirt.
- Have you ever seen a rainbow?
- A climber died in Tibet.
Notice that we use a/an with professions:
- My mother is an accountant.
- James is a teacher.
We also use some and any when we do not need to make clear which people or things we are talking about:
- I bought some shoes today.
- I didn’t meet any nice people at the party.
- Did you buy any bread at the supermarket?
We use the with singular, plural, and uncountable nouns:
| the girl | the girls | the information |
We use the when it is obvious which person or thing we are talking about because:
- we have already mentioned it or something related to it:
- A: I’ve bought a blouse and a skirt.
- B: What colour is the blouse?
- We took our children to a circus. The clowns were very good.
- the situation makes it clear:
- The moon is clear tonight.
- Is the radio in the kitchen?
- Let’s meet at the station.
We also use the when we make it clear which person or thing we mean with words that identify it:
- This is the skirt that I bought.
- Do you know the girls in this photo?
We do not use the with a noun and a number:
- Do Exercise 3 on page 29.
But we use the with first, second, third, etc. + noun:
- Do the third exercise.
PRACTICE
Now it is time to practise what you have learned.
- For each Practice Test, read the instructions carefully.
- Complete the exercise and press 'Check' to get your results.
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