Have you heard that in English we use the indefinite article “an” in front of words that begin with vowels and the article “a” in front of words that start with consonants? Well, not quite! In this post, we'll teach how to use indefinite articles the right way! 

Our intention is to provide you with a simple rule so that every time you wonder whether to use “a” or “an”, you'll remember these tips.

Let's get to the general rule: what really matters is the vowel SOUND, not the vowel itself. It will be easier with some example, let's go!

 We say:

- An hour

but

- A history

Both words start with the consonant H. So what is the difference? 

 - In "hour" the "h" is mute, so the initial sound of the word is "ow". So we use the indefinite article “an”.  

 - In "history" the "h" is pronounced, so the word actually begins with the consonant sound of "h". 

For nearly every rule, there are exceptions to make the challenge of learning English even greater. One such exception with "h" is the word "herb".

In American English, the correct article is "an". However, in British English, the correct one is "a". This is because the pronunciation varies with the regional dialect and pronunciation.

Therefore, in American English, we have:

- An herb (because the h is mute)

In British English the correct is:

- A herb (because the "h" is pronounced)

When using indefinite articles for words starting with vowels, it is similarly determined by pronunciation for the vowel.

For example, it's 'an umbrella' and 'an undertaking' because both 'umbrella' and 'undertaking' start with 'uh' sounds for the vowel 'u'.

However, it's 'a universe' and 'a uniform' because 'uniform' is pronounced with a 'y' sound (yuniform). The same is true for words like utensil, university and unique.

Following the same pattern for exceptions, there are also differences for the vowels “o” and “e”:

 - An egg

- A European 

Egg has an "eh" sound, but with "European" the initial sound is "y"—similar to 'uniform'.​​​​​​​

- An orange

- A one-off

'Orange' begins with the vowel sound 'orr', while 'One' begins with the consonant sound “wa”, so the undefined article “a” is used (other examples: one-off, one-dimensional, one-handed).

This will make more sense with practice, but the main point is that the indefinite article is determined by the pronunciation of the vowel and that's why there are exceptions to the general rule.

To apply what you've learned, schedule a lesson with one of our native teachers. And remember to use the code LIMLAUNCH to save 50% off your lesson.