when to use a;when to use an

[alkafeel]

When to use a;when to use an

Use a before a consonant sound
:For example
He is a doctor-
!What a nice picture-

Use an before a vowel sound
He is an actor-

[ضيف]

:Furter information
a or an comes before a singular countable noun
a man, a union, an idea

Notes
a/an has no plural form.In the plural form, instead of a, we use either no word at all or some

[alkafeel]

The meaning and use of a/an
a/an means any one of a kind or group.It contrasts with The.It means singular but not unique
a/an is used especially after the verb Be, for example in naming a person's job
:For example
He is a teacher

[ضيف]

a/an is used when something is mentioned for the first time.But when the same thing is mentioned again use the
:For example
My friends live in a very beautiful house.But the house has only a small kitchen

[ضيف]

a/an means the same as one when it contrasts with two,three
:For example

.I 'd like two cups of tea and a glass of milk-

[alkafeel]

:In numbers, we generally use a instead of one in front of
a half
a third
a couple
a dozen
a hundred
a million

[alkafeel]

a/an also means per or every in phrases of measuring or frequency
a day
a month
a year
a week

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a/an also has a general use,which describes all examples of the same kind or any examples of the same kind

:For example
A teacher earns much less than a lawyer
If a man and a woman are in love, they will have a happy marriage

[ضيف]

Special uses of a/an

a/an is not used for describing substances,masses or abstractions in general.For example, we do not say: They will give you a good advice
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A special use of a is found before Quantity Words and adverbs of degree
:For example
A few parents attended the meeting
A lot of parents attended the meeting
The storm has damaged a large number of buildings

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:Often a also comes before part nouns like piece, unit nouns like
cup,box,and nouns of Kind like kind,type
E.g. a piece of cake, a cup of tea
E.g. He lived in a kind of tent
A Jaguar is a type of car
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[alkafeel]

When the determiners what,such and many are used with a singular countable noun, a follows the determiner
!E.g.What a noise
She was such a kind person
Many a man died in that battle
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Also, a often follows the adverbs quite and rather
E.g.We had rather a busy day
We had quite a busy day