The indefinite article, typical cases of usage

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is Martin.

—   And my name is James.

—   Nathaniel is also with us today.

—   Welcome to our grammar lesson!

—   Today we would like to tell you one story. It’s connected to my niece Lexi.

—   The girl had been asking us to take her to the amusement park all month long.

—   Yesterday we were finally free from work, so we called Lexi and invited her to the park.

—   She was so excited to hear such wonderful news, because she really likes this park.

—   When we got there, we saw a clown.

—   He was so funny, so we decided to come closer to watch him juggling six oranges.

—   Lexi really liked the show.

—   Then the clown began shouting: “Hellooooo, everyone! I'm the famous clown. Take the look at how I can juggle these oranges! Can you do that?”.

—   When we heard that, we were so disappointed.

—   The man is extremely good at what he does, but at the same time he is so illiterate.

—   Martin asked the clown to talk privately.

—   The clown agreed. Listen to their conversation.

—   There you go, we are alone. What did you want to talk to me about?

—   Well… You’re a professional juggler. I really liked your show!

—   Oh, thank you so much. It’s a pleasure for me to hear that.

—   Yes, but…

—   But what?

—   Oh, I’m sorry to tell you that, but I have to. When you were talking to the people around you, you used the definite article “the” twice in your speech.

—   Yes, that’s right…

—   But we cannot use “the” in these two cases.

—   Really? Well… I don’t care! Bye bye.

—   Wait! You are so talented, but so illiterate. Let me explain the rule to you, please!

—   Excuse me?! How dare you say such words to me?

—   I’m sorry I meant no offence. I just really want to help you.

—   Oh my God! You’re so tenacious young man! All right! I accept your help.

—   Hooray! Are you free at 6 o’clock tomorrow?

—   Yes, I am.

—   Great! Come to my place then.

Martin gave him a piece of paper with his home address.

As you can understand, today in the lesson we will:

·        revise the meaning of the word “articles”;

·        revise the types of articles;

And

·         talk about the typical cases of usage of the indefinite article.

—   Hello.

—   Oh, Hi. I’m so glad you came over. Meet my friends, please. They will help me to explain the rule to you.

—   Oh, okay. Nice to meet you, guys.

—   Nice to meet you too.

—   Well… Let’s start our lesson.

—   First of all, let’s revise the definition of the term “articles”.

—   After that we will revise the types of articles.

Articles are the words that define a noun as specific or unspecific.

There are two types of articles: definite and indefinite.

The definite article is the word the.

For example: the wall, the laptop.

The indefinite article has two forms: a and an.

In general, we use the indefinite article “a” in front of nouns and adjectives that begin with a consonant.

The indefinite article “an” is used in front of nouns and adjectives that begin with a vowel. Nevertheless, there are a few exceptions.

Let’s talk about them.

1. We need to use the indefinite article “a” with nouns and adjectives that begin with eu–.

For instance:

a euro;

a European city;

a eucalyptus leaf.

2. The article “a” is also used with nouns that begin with ur–.

For instance:

a uranium industry;

a uranium mine.

3. Most nouns or adjectives that begin with uni– also require the article “a”.

For instance:

a uniform;

a unicorn;

a unique ring;

a unit of measure.

But pay attention! There are some adjectives that begin with uni– which follow the general rule.

For instance:

an unidentified person;

an unintelligent woman;

an uninhabited island;

an uninvited guest.

Now let’s talk about the letter “h”.

There are two forms of this letter: aspirated and unaspirated.

The aspirated form requires an expulsion of air.

The unaspirated form doesn’t require an expulsion of air. It’s completely silent. The letter “h” contributes no sound to the spoken word. It seems that this letter doesn’t exist. As a result, we need to use the indefinite article “an” with the words which include the unaspirated form of the letter “h”.

Let’s look at the table and compare the following words.

The first column:

a hamburger;

a hero;

a heart;

a house.

The second column:

an hour;

an honorable woman;

an honest person;

an heir.

As you can see, it seems that we don’t have letter “h” in the words from the second column. That’s why we used the article “an” with them.

—   We’ve told you a bit about articles and the types of articles.

—   But as we have already said, today we will talk about the indefinite article.

—   Martin, James and I will tell you about the typical cases of usage of the indefinite article.

—   Okay! You intrigued me. Now I want to hear everything about this type of articles.

—   Great!

1. We use the indefinite article with countable nouns which are used as predicates and name the objects.

For example:

Molly is a scientist.

Or

It’s a wonderful house.

2. “A” or “an” can be used if we want to refer to any member of a group. In this case, we don’t want to refer to a certain member.

For example:

A cat is a lovely animal.

Or

A polar bear is a huge bear.

3. The indefinite article is also used if we want to indicate membership.

In this case we can talk about:

·        Religion

For example: Margaret is an Anglican.

·        Nationality

For example: Mrs. Mills is an American.

·        Profession

For example: George is a driver.

·        Politics

For example: Elizabeth is a Conservative.

4. The indefinite article “a” or “an” can be used when it means “one” and refers to a single object or person, or a single unit of measure. In such sentences we can use "one" instead of the indefinite article. It’s grammatically correct.

For instance:

Ryan, I would like a pineapple and four peaches, please!

We can also say:

Ryan, I would like one pineapple and four peaches, please!

5. We use “a” or “an” to introduce a person or thing for the first time. This shows that the listener or reader doesn't know what we are referring to.

For instance:

Mr. Johnson was carrying a briefcase in his hand.

Or

With this hat on his head, the man looked like a cowboy.

6. The indefinite article “a” or “an” can be used in the following constructions: there is, there was, there will be.

For example:

There is a mouse in my bedroom.

There was a salad in the fridge.

There will be a cake at the party.

7. We can use the indefinite article with countable nouns which function as direct objects.

For instance:

Robert threw a ball.

Or

Jessica ate a delicious pie.

8. The indefinite article “a” or “an” can be used with the exclamations which include countable nouns. We use exclamations to express surprise or shock or a strong emotion about something.

For example:

What a wonderful surprise!

What a beautiful day!

What an interesting book!

9. The indefinite article is also used with:

·        Whole numbers

For instance: a hundred, a million.

·        Fractions

For instance: a quarter, a half.

·        Money

For instance: a dollar, a cent.

·        Weights, measures

For instance: a kilo, a ton.

10. We can also use the indefinite article “a” or “an” in front of proper nouns.

Do you know what a proper noun is?

Let me help you.

A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or object that is spelt with a capital letter.

Now let’s look at the following examples:

She is a Cooper.

(It means that she is a member of the Cooper family).

Or

It’s a Turner painting.

—   We’ve told you about the typical cases of usage of the indefinite article.

—   Now tell me, do you understand everything?

—   Yes, I do! Thank you so much! And I want to apologize for my behavior the other day. I was so rude to you.

—   Oh, please, don’t worry! Everything is fine!

—   Guys, you’re so kind. I don’t know how to thank you. Oh, you know what?

—   What?

—   Let me invite all of you to my show tomorrow.

—   Oh, cool! Thanks.

—   All right. See you tomorrow.

—   See you.

—   That’s all for today, our dear friends.

—   We hope the lesson was useful and interesting for you.

—   See you soon, boys and girls.