The distribution rule for the indefinite article in English (you must get accustomed to this kind of lingo) states that < A > is used before words that begin with a CONSONANT: ex: A TEACHER.
The indefinite article < AN > is used in front of a vowel: ex: AN IDEA.
How do you account for < A UNIVERSITY> , < A URINE SAMPLE> etc?
ReplyDeleteWe use "a" before nouns or adjectives which begin with a consonant, or when U sounds like a Y, or O sounds like a W.
Ex.: a university , a one-eyed pirate
"A" is the indefinite article in the English language that is used before words that begin witha consonant. It italian the definite article "A" is translated to "una". For example, una macchina, una casa, una famiglia. Each noun must have an indefinite article or else its incomplete
ReplyDelete"a" and an are indefinite articles, meaning that the nouns following them are nonspecific. Example; I want an apple(any apple)
ReplyDelete"a" precedes words beginning with consonant sounds:
another example would be: a horse, a unicycle, a big igloo
In elementary school, we were taught that vowels consist of A, E, I, O, U, and "sometimes" Y. Words such as 'university' demonstrate this rule because although the word begins with the letter, u, the phonetic reading makes it sound like the consonant pronunciation of Y. Therefore, the correct indefinite article in this case would be 'a' rather than 'an.'
ReplyDelete