The indefinite article is a or an. The form an is used before a word that starts with a vowel sound.| a girl | a cat |
| an eight-year-old girl | an engineer |
The indefinite article is used with singular countable nouns:- to refer to a person or a thing that you are mentioning for the first time in a conversation or a piece of writing.
- A man was seen driving away in a black car.
- to refer to a person or a thing which you do not want to be specific about.
- I stopped off at a shop to buy a newspaper.
- You go past a petrol station on the left, and then you’ll see our house on the right.
- to refer to a person or a thing which you cannot be more specific about because there is not enough information.
- A man called to see you this afternoon.
- There was a telephone call for you a minute ago.
- An octopus is a sea creature with eight tentacles.
- when you refer to a person’s profession.
- Her father is a dentist and her mother is a teacher.
- to express a quantity, unless you wish to emphasize the number, when one must be used. The equivalent for plural nouns is some or no determiner at all. See Determiners.
- I want a needle and a thimble.
- Would you like a glass of wine?
- There is only one glass of wine left in the bottle.
- Guy has bought a skateboard.
- We’ve got three pairs of rollerblades and one skateboard.
It is the sound, not the spelling, that decides where an is used. For example, although unique begins with a vowel, the sound at the beginning resembles a y- sound.| an idiot | an awful mistake |
| a unicorn | a unique experience |
There are a few words that begin with a silent h-, in front of which an should be used. They are: heir, heiress, honest, honour, hour.
- Very formal or old-fashioned speakers also use the an form with some words beginning with an h- that is not silent, especially historical and hotel.
| I waited an hour. | |
| They joined a historical society. | |
| They joined an historical society. | (old-fashioned English) |
| They were staying at a hotel. | |
| They were staying at an hotel. | (old-fashioned English) |
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