Articles

Use of a and an

Pronunciation of the

grammar game

For the sake of convenience, many teachers tell their students that the indefinite article ''a'' is used before consonants, while ''an'' is used before vowels. In most cases, this is true:

A cat
A dog
A house
A man
A woman
An apple
An elephant
An ice-cream
An orange
An umbrella


However, the choice between a and an actually depends on pronunciation, not spelling. Thus, a is used before a consonant sound, even if it is written as a vowel, and an is used before a vowel sound, even if it is written as a consonant:

The information about a and an above is directly relevant to the pronunciation of the definite article, the.

This word has two pronunciations, depending on whether it comes before a consonant sound or a vowel sound.

The is pronounced Ồi: before a vowel sound, even if it is written as a consonant, and Ồә before a consonant sound, even if it is written as a vowel:

The ( Ồә ) university is in the middle of town.
The ( Ồә) one-way street near my house is closed.
The ( Ồi: ) honest answer to your question is "No".
The ( Ồi:) FBI is investigating the case.
The same applies for abbreviations as for a and an (see above). Acronyms (words formed from the initial letters of a group of words), should be treated as words, and not abbreviations:

the / Ồә /SALT treaties
the / Ồә / RAM on my computer

A uniform
A one-sided game
An hour
An NCO
Some people say an, not a, before words beginning with h when the first syllable is not stressed:

An hotel (a hotel is more common)
An historical novel (a historical … is more common)

When an abbreviation takes an article, it depends on the pronunciation of the first letter of the abbreviation:

An NCO
A UN spokesman.

Little and few
grammar game
Little is used with uncountable nouns:

There is little water left, so drink only what you must.
I have little reason to think they will help.

[[u]b]Few[/b][/u] is used with plural nouns:

There are few men who are capable of doing it.
I know few places that I could recommend to you.

Used in this way, little and few have somewhat negative meanings:

I have little reason to think they will help = I would like to have more reason, but unfortunately I haven't.
I know few places that I could recommend to you = I would like to be able to recommend more places, but unfortunately there aren't more.

Used in this way, little and few are also quite formal. We can say the same thing in a less formal way by using not much and not many:

I don't have much reason to think they will help.
I don't know many places that I could recommend to you.

When we use the indefinite article a before little and few, it has a more positive meaning, similar to some:

We've got a little bread = We've got some bread.
We've got a few biscuits = We've got some biscuits.

Before a pronoun or a determiner, (a) little of and (a) few of are used:

Take a little of this and a little of that.
Sorry, but we only have a little of it.
Take a few of these and a few of those.
Sorry, but we only have a few of them.

Some and Any

grammar game

We use the determiners some and any to speak about indefinite quantities or numbers, when the exact quantity or number that we are thinking of is not important.

In the most basic terms, we can say that we use some for affirmative statements, and any for questions and negative statements:

I need some new clothes.
We haven't got any sugar.
Do you have any pins?

It is possible, however, to use some in questions and any in affirmative statements in certain circumstances.

When we are make an offer, or a request, and we want to encourage the person we are speaking to to say "Yes", we use some in our question:

Would you mind getting some bread while you're at the shops?
Shall I bring some drinks to the party?

We use any in affirmative statements if it comes after a word whose meaning is negative or limiting:

He never does any good deeds.
She rarely has any food to offer us.
They neglected to offer any advice.
Just do it without any fuss or bother!

In conditional sentences, we can often use some and any with no difference in meaning:
If they need some/any more supplies, they should just tell us.

The same rules that apply for some and any also apply for somebody/anybody, someone/anyone, somewhere/anywhere, something/anything:

He never does anything bad.
I need somewhere to sleep.
Do you know anyone who could help us?

Such
"What is the difference between such and such as?"

The use of such as is relatively simple. It is used with a noun to introduce examples:

He likes playing sports such as tennis, football and swimming.
At such times as Christmas and Easter, many people take holidays.
The use of such is more complicated. In Practical English Usage (Michael Swan, Oxford University Press), the following principle uses of such are described:

1) "In the formal style, such + noun can be used to mean 'like this / that' or 'of the kind that has just been mentioned'. Such comes before a / an.

The committee is thinking of raising the subscription. I would oppose such a decision.
There are various ways of composing secret messages. Such systems are called 'codes' or 'ciphers'."
p. 568
2) "Such is often used when we are talking about a high degree of some quality – in situations where very is also a suitable word. In this sense, such is common before adjective + noun.

I’m sorry you had such a bad journey. (= You had a very bad journey, and I’m sorry). / It was a pleasure to meet such interesting people."
p. 569
3) "In an informal style, such can also be used to give new information, when the speaker wishes to emphasize what is said.

He’s such an idiot! / She has such a marvelous voice!"
p. 569
Note also the difference between such and so. We use such before a noun (with or without an adjective).

It’s such good weather at the moment! / They are such clowns!
We use so before an adjective on its own (without a noun) or an adverb.

The weather is so good at the moment. / Please don’t speak so quickly.


For more information, and quizzes, on determiners, see the following web sites:



http://www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlync ... g/a.html#a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ruthvilmi.net/hut/help/gramm ... owels.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.rhlschool.com/eng2n26.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

See more lessons on this URL http://www.msallam.com/index.php?page=pages&id=35" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 
أ. مسلم قمباز,
As usual .. An amazing topic I wish I could add more information about determiners because I like this topic very much, but I think you covered everything in this topic ... God bless ur efforts

This topic will be added to the list of distinguished topics