A or AN: What Is the Difference?

If you are learning English, then you will know that both the word 'a' and the word 'an' can be used before any noun or adjective. Now, both the words 'a' and 'an' are what are known as indefinite articles. We aren't going to go into what they are in this article. This is because we don't want to discuss the similarities between these words, but the differences. So, let's jump in.

Using the A and AN

Before we can tell you how to use these words, we need to tell you when you should be using them.

Both the 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles, as we said. This means that they are used when you are not talking about something specific.

If you had an indefinite article, it would be this:

"I gave him a movie about dogs"

If you have a definite, it would be:

"I gave him the movie about dogs"

Yes, it is a touch complicated. However, in the first one, you would be using "a" to symbolize that it could be literally any movie about dogs. In the second, you are highlighting that there is a specific movie you gave them.

Honestly, as long as you know when to use 'the', then you should be fine. A or An is going to be used in all other situations when referring to something.

When do you use A and AN?

This now leads us to the big question on this page. How do you know whether to use A or An? Well, surprisingly, it is rather simple. This is rare for the English language!

* You use 'a' when the first letter of the word that follows is a consonant

* You use 'an' when the first letter of the word that follows is a vowel

So:

* I gave a man a movie

* I gave a man an injection

If you do not know what constant and vowels are in English, then the vowels are a e i o u. The consonants are everything else. So, if it starts with one of those five letters, then you should almost always use 'an'.

There are a couple of exceptions to the rules, but they are minor exceptions. Generally, our tutors like to tell students to go by whatever sounds right to them. As you start to learn more and more English and spend a bit of time listening and speaking English, you will get there. In fact, you probably won't have to think about it after a while, it becomes so simple to understand.

If you are having trouble understanding this concept, then feel free to talk to the tutor that you hire here through JustLearn.com. Since this is one of the most common issues for early speakers of English, they will have a couple of tricks that you can use. Don't worry if it takes you a while to work out how everything is done. We can promise you, this is something that everybody is going to be able to understand eventually!