10-Important Rules to be followed while using Article "AN" in English Grammar

Important Rules to Use Article " AN"

“An” is an indefinite article. It is used to talk about countable nouns. ‘An’ is not used to talk about plurals or non-countable nouns.

NUMBER	INDEFINITE	DEFINITE
Singular	a / an	the
Plural	nothing	the
Non-Count	nothing	the

1.            Vowel Starting nouns or words take An before them(a, e, i, o, u);

Example:

(a) Akki  is intelligent Girl.—wrong (b) Akki is an intelligent Girl   —correct;

(a) The President made appeal for the poor. —wrong; (b) The President made an appeal for the poor.—correct;

2.            An is used before some H starting words in which H is not pronunciated.

Example:  (a) An honest man (b) An hour

3.            If H, L, M,N, F, R, S, X  are the first letters of abbreviations, we use An before them.

Example: (a) An M.A.     (b) An L.L.B. Student

4.            You cannot use A or AN with plural nouns because A(AN) means "one" or "a single".

Examples: (a) I saw a bears in GIR National Park. Not Correct (b) I saw bears in GIR National Park. Correct

5.            Indefinite articles cannot be practiced two times for the same noun in the same sentence.

Example: (a) Vivekanand was a saint and a hero.—wrong (b) Vivekanand was a saint and hero.—correct

But

(a) Vivekanand was both a saint and a hero.—correct (b) Sameer is neither a poet nor a writer. —correct (c) Anand is either a poet or a singer. —correct (d) Rupali is not only a philosopher but also a critic-correct

6.            Indefinite article should not be used before the name of meals.

Example: (a) Robin was present at a dinner.—wrong (b)               Robin was present at dinner.—correct

But:

(a) It was tasteful dinner.—wrong (b) It was a tasteful dinner.— correct

(a) That was very nice breakfast.—wrong (b) That was a very' nice breakfast.—correct

So, in the case of adjective indefinite article must be used.

7.            A or An should not be used before material noun.

(a) It is a glass so it can be broken easily. —wrong (b) It is glass so it can be broken easily. —correct

(a) It is a paper you should write on it. —wrong (b) It is paper you should write on it.—correct

But:

(a) Bring glass of water. —wrong (b) Bring a glass of water.—correct

(a) I read newspaper.   —wrong (b) I read a news paper.— correct

8.            No use of article is there after what kind of and what sort of.

Example:

(a)What kind of a boy he is.—wrong (b) What kind of boy he is.—correct

(a) What sort of a novel it is.—wrong What sort of novel it is.—correct

9.            These are some uncountable nouns, so we should not use indefinite article before them.

Examples: Furniture, Stationery, Poetry, Scenery, Perfumery, Damage, Luggage, Baggage, Postage, Traffic, Offspring, Information, Advice, Abuse, Telephone.