Articles Confused

Question

Hi This is Asin.i have big confusion about articles.

In internet i studied if
a,e,i,o,u-use An.
else
a-consonant.
The -particular.

but in below senten i am confused.

copper is a useful metal----Why a be for a vowel Useful.

mark is not an honourable man---An before non vovel..What are all the exception in articles pls list.

he return after an hour--why An hour ?

i met him at the temple--Why use The why can't i use a.

steve went to the hospital to see his father.--Why The can't i use a.

yesterday a europeon called at my office.~~What are all the exception in articles~~-Why can't AN europeon.

doctor gave him some medicin.--Why Some is coming in articles

have you ever seen a elephant.---why to use a instead of An elephant(its a vowel)

some shop has been closed--Why Some is coming in articles

a honest man never tell lie---why a is coming here

i take the egg for break fast--why the instesd of An egg or a egg.

I request you to explain clearly.
Thank you very much.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

An is used before a vowel sound: an elephant, an old elephant, an hohest man.
A is used before a consonant sound: a universal problem.

Don't look at the written word and its initial letter. Listen to the first sound.

CB

Holyduke · Answer

AnonymousHi This is Asin.i have big confusion about articles.In internet i studied ifa,e,i,o,u-use An.elsea-consonant.The ~~particular.but in below senten i am confused.copper is a useful metal~~-Why a be for a vowel Useful.mark is not an honourable man-~~An before non vovel..What are all the exception in articles pls list.he return after an hour~~-why An hour ?i met him at the temple--Why use The why can't i use a.steve went to the hospital to see his father.--Why The can't i use a.yesterday a europeon called at my office.~~What are all the exception in articles~~-Why can't AN europeon.doctor gave him some medicin.--Why Some is coming in articleshave you ever seen a elephant.-~~why to use a instead of An elephant(its a vowel)some shop has been closed~~-Why Some is coming in articlesa honest man never tell lie-~~why a is coming here i take the egg for break fast~~-why the instesd of An egg or a egg.I request you to explain clearly.Thank you very much.

Cool breeze is correct. The consonant/vowel sound determines which articles to use, not the letter.

useful - the u is pronounced /ju/ not /1/ or /L/ (

this doesn't support phonetics)

honourable - h is silent (no sound)

hour - h is silent, sounds like "our"

I met him at the temple. (you know which temple it is, not just any temple) only use 'a' when you are stating a general noun and not a specific one which both you and the reader/listener know. (there are tens of thousands of temples in the world, you met him at "a temple" you know. or "a temple" down the street. )

Steve went to "the hospital" where his father is in. (same thing, you mean the hospital where steve's father is staying at, not any hospital)

medicine - normally an uncountable noun. You can't use singular "quantifier" to describe an uncountable noun since 'a' means one. So you use some (which is an quantifier that can be used for both uncountable and countable nouns)

Have you ever seen an elephant? (a is wrong, an is right)

Some shops have been closed. (subject verb agreement)

A shop has been closed. (subject verb agreement)

An honest man- honest's h is silent so sounds like "onest"

I took the egg for breakfast. breakfast is one word. (you can use either a or the in this case, depending on what you mean)

I took an egg for breakfast- I took an egg out of many eggs that I have and had it for breakfast.

I took the egg for breakfast- I took a "special" egg (already cooked or have some special meaning the listener/readers knows about) and had it for breakfast.

KrisBlueNZ · Answer

AnonymousIn internet i studied if a,e,i,o,u-use An. else a consonant.
copper is a useful metal--Why a be for a vowel Useful.
mark is not an honourable man---An before non vovel.
The reason is the SOUND of the word. The A/AN choice depends on what SOUNDS comfortable.
Use A when the next word starts with a consonant SOUND - a carrot, a pear.
HOUR and HONEST start with a consonant, but the H is silent, i.e. not spoken. The first SOUND when the word is spoken is a vowel sound.
Use AN when the next word starts with a vowel SOUND - an aphid, an elephant, an octopus.
But there are lots of words that start with A, E, I, O or U, that don't start with a vowel SOUND.

These words start with "yoo-": Ukulele, unit, unique etc, and EUROPEAN.

I had trouble understanding the rest of your message, but I'll try to answer some more.
AnonymousI met him at the temple--Why use The why can't i use a.
I don't understand this question. You can change the THE to A, so the sentence would be "I met him at A temple", but this is not related to the A/AN issue.
AnonymousI take the egg for break fast--why the instesd of An egg or a egg.
OK, you're getting two separate issues confused here.
The guideline for whether to say A or AN depends only on the sound of the next word, like I described above. The two words A and AN have exactly the same MEANING. The choice is just a matter of what SOUNDS nice.
The word THE has a different meaning. It means a SPECIFIC thing, not just ANY ONE of those things. For example:
"There's a bird on the roof"
A BIRD means any bird, not a specific bird like MY BIRD or THAT BIRD WE SAW BEFORE, because if you recognise the bird, you would name it specifically. The phrase A BIRD is not specific about WHICH bird it is.
THE ROOF means a specific roof - the roof of the house, or the roof where the person is pointing, or the roof that you are already discussing.
You use THE thing when there is some context that indicates which thing you're talking about:
"THE car blew up this morning" - he is referring to HIS car, or the car he normally uses.
"I'll take it to A mechanic" - he doesn't have a specific mechanic in mind, otherwise he would say "MY mechanic" or "Dave the mechanic". Also, in this sentence, the word IT means "the car".

"I think THE head gasket's blown" - by implication, he's referring to the head gasket in his car (THE car).
"It needs A new tire too" - he's not specifying WHICH tire needs to be replaced. He probably knows which tire it is, but there's no need for him to be so specific.
To summarise, A/AN depends on the sound of the next word. THE refers to a SPECIFIC item. A/AN refers to ANY item of that type.

HTH KrisBlueNZ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much.I understand articles better before with your help

copper is a useful metal.

could you tell me why we use a here .

Cool Breeze · Answer

There are many metals. Copper is one of them.

CB

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous~~copper~~ Copper is a useful metal.

~~could~~ Could you tell me why we use 'a' here?

1. If you mean, why 'a' instead of 'the', then it's because "the useful metal" would imply that there is only one useful metal, and that metal is copper. By using 'a' you indicate that copper is just one of several useful metals.

2. If you mean, why 'a' instead of 'an', then it's because 'useful' is pronounced as if it began with the consonant y, "yoossful".

CJ

Park candle 947 · Answer

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