Grammar - Articles - When to use A, AN, or no article

Hi, this is Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on when to use indefinite

articles, which are "a" or "an" or "no article". And this is the symbol we will use, meaning

"no article", so you don't say "a" or "an" before the noun.

OK, this is a problem that is actually very common for new speakers of English, especially

when it comes to writing and speaking. So, this is a production problem.

So, I have a few sentences here, and I'm going to explain the rules to you about when you

should use "a", "an" or "no article" whatsoever. Now, keep in mind, this does not cover the

word "the". There are actually lessons on www.engvid.com that will help you with that

as well, and I recommend checking those out after seeing this lesson.

OK, so we have a sentence here, "My family has dog", and an apple is red. First, let's

look at this, the first sentence again. "My family has dog." OK, so the first thing we

need to identify here is that "dog", the noun "dog", can you count dogs? Is it a count noun

or a non-count noun? OK, if it is a count noun, meaning if you can say one dog, two

dogs, three dogs, four dogs, then if it's in the singular form, so just one dog, but

you can count more, but it's only one, you have to use an article. OK, so you can't say

"My family has dog", you have to say "My family has a dog." OK, and here, "An apple is red."

This is a general statement. You're making a generalization about a common noun. Here,

the common noun is an apple. We can also say "A banana is yellow." OK, so when you're making

a generalization about a generic noun, or if you want to call it a common noun, then

you would have to use an article as well. OK, so the rule that we can put here is that

you can use it for singular count nouns and generalizations. So these are, generalizations

just mean general statements about common nouns. OK, so let's look at the

second set of sentences here. So we have "I like to drink a water" and "I enjoy eating

apples." OK, so can you count water? If you have like a bathtub full of water, for example,

can you say "There is one water, two waters, three waters"? No, water is a non-count noun.

You cannot count water, just like you cannot count electricity. Electricity is another

example of a non-count noun. You can't say "one electricity, two electricities." It's

all electricity. OK, so in this case, we're looking at water, right? So, "I like to drink

a water." No, when you have a non-count noun, you do not use an article. You do not use

a or an, the indefinite article. OK, so you just say "I like to drink water." OK, and

if you're looking at this statement here, "I enjoy eating apples," you're not using

any kind of article because it is, this is a count noun. Remember, just like up here,

we have an apple. Remember, you can have one apple, two apples, three apples. You can count

apples, but when you're doing the plural form, so when you're talking about two apples or

four apples or any number of apples, you do not use an article. OK, so you cannot say

"I enjoy eating an apples" or "apples." "I enjoy eating apples." So, the rule here is,

we use, again, we use no article, no article for, OK, sorry about that, for non-count nouns

and plural count nouns. OK, and use it for plural count nouns. So, remember, we can count

apples, right? So, if you have more than one, you do not say "a apples" or "an apples."

It's just "apples." Whereas, if you're talking about one apple, you would say "an apple."

Just like here, "an apple" is red. OK, so if you'd like to check out how to use or when

to use "a, an" or "no article" and really test your knowledge, you can check out www.engvid.com

and the quiz on the site. Thank you for watching. I really hope this improves your writing as

well as your speaking, and I'll see you next time. OK, one more quick reminder. So, some

of you might have been confused when I said "a apple," "an apple." You can actually only

say "an apple." So, let me do a quick refresher for you as to when to use "a" and when to

use "an" before a word that begins with either a consonant sound or a vowel sound. So, here

we have a clock. We cannot say "an clock" because the word "clock" itself begins with

a consonant sound. So, either a "k," "g," "b," "n," "n." Those kinds of sounds. Here we have "an arm."

We use "an" because this is a vowel sound. So, for vowel sounds, words that begin with

vowel sounds like "a," "i," "e," "o," "u," we have to use "an" because if we say "a arm,"

it sounds very, very awkward. It does not sound correct. So, "an arm." "A door," similar

to "a clock." The same thing as "a clock," right? This is not a "e," "a," "u," "o" kind

of sound, but just a consonant sound. So, we can't say "an door." It's "a door." Here

we have "an ant," same with "an arm." It would sound very, very silly to say "a ant." So,

because this is a vowel sound, we have to use "an." Now, here we have "an honest man."

The reason it's not "a," despite, you might look at this and say, "Wait, but 'h' is a

consonant." You know, it's with the "b's" and the "k's" and the "m's" and all the consonant

letters. The letter is not important. It's the sound that the word makes. So, "a honest

man," again, it's that "a," "a." No, that does not go well together. It's "an honest

man," because we don't pronounce this "honest." If you did say "honest," then "a honest man"

would be acceptable. But again, because the sound is a vowel sound, "an honest man" is

correct. Okay? I hope you enjoyed that. I'll see you later. Take care.