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"The" and "A/an"

Articles "The" and "A/an" are tricky for non-native speakers of English. It seems hard to know when to use each one.

One should use "the" when one is talking about something specific. Usually both the person speaking and the person listening understand what object the speaker is referring to, such as the car or the bus. In this case both the speaker and listener know which bus or car it is.

One should use "A" or "an" when speaking about an object in general. 'An apple or a banana' could be any banana or apple not something specific, such as I would like to eat an apple. In contrast, if I said I would like to eat the apple than both the listener and the speaker know which apple it is.
Hui
  • Authority 113
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Hui said:

It is a good lesson! and I am always confusing about how to use preposition, such as “at”, “in”, ” on” ... special before the time or before the place.

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  • Posted 8 months ago.
mcaers
  • Authority 503
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mcaers said:

Hi Hui,

I will work on a lesson for prepositions next.

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  • Posted 8 months ago.
geof
  • Authority 256
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geof said:

Related to this issue is what to use and how to pronounce “a”or “an” when it precedes a word stating with an “h”. Although you could say “It is a historical event.”, the sentence rolls off the tongue easier if you say “It was an istorical event.” by keeping the “h” silent.

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  • Posted 6 months ago.
avinash1990
  • Authority 12
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avinash1990 said:

GOOD! BUT NEED FEW MORE LESSONS AND EXCERSISES

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  • Posted 5 months ago.
saurabhbisht
  • Authority 8
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saurabhbisht said:

THE [da] the [dee] how do we know when to and what to pronounce at different situations?????//

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
acrosstheuniverse
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acrosstheuniverse said in response to:
saurabhbisht
saurabhbisht’s post:
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THE [da] the [dee] how do we know when to and what to pronounce at different situations?????//

What I think you mean is when to pronounce these as parts of words.

For [da] it would sound like du-ayy, like “day” with a sharp “A” sound. Words that can be associated with this are daring, daunting, daily, damage and data.

For [dee] it would sound like du-ee, like “detail” with a sharp “E” sound. Words that can be associated with this are determined, delete, derive, defend and delegate.

If you have any other questions about certain words, check out the English community or our ESL community.

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
mcaers
  • Authority 503
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mcaers said in response to:
saurabhbisht
saurabhbisht’s post:
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THE [da] the [dee] how do we know when to and what to pronounce at different situations?????//

Hi there,

The general rules to follow for different pronunciations of the word “the” are as follows:

We say the (da) when the word that comes after it starts with a consonant.

We say thee (dee) when the word that comes after it starts with a vowel.

The other occasion where a person may pronounce “the” as “thee” is for emphasis.

Does that help?

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
Sovon
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Sovon said:

I’m confused about British english and American english.Is it makes any defference in SAT? Can anybody help me?? I need a friend to practice together too …is here anybody such??

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
mcaers
  • Authority 503
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mcaers said:

Hi Sovon,

You will have to be familiar with American English for the SAT because the SAT is an American test. You will only need British English if you are going to go to the UK.

Check out the SAT community to find friends to practice with. The LearnHub team posts different questions each week for you to try.

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
oLahav
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oLahav said in response to:
Sovon
Sovon’s post:
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I’m confused about British english and American english.Is it makes any defference in SAT? Can anybody help me?? I need a friend to practice together too …is here anybody such??

Hey Sovon.

Take a look at my lesson, it has a list of common words and their American vs. British spelling.

This can be a confusing concept… but luckily, since the SAT is primarily multiple choice and spelling doesn’t count much on the SAT essay, this is not such a big deal. If you can figure out the words as they are written, you should be fine even if you’re used to British rather than American English.

More questions? Post them here.

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
subhash
  • Authority 22
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subhash said:

actuly i have problen in grammer and speak in english so would advice me how could i improve my language problem.

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  • Posted 4 months ago.
Malgosia
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Malgosia said:

Do you use ‘an’ before an acronym, or ‘a’? Example: I am considering doing an MBA…or I am considering doing a MBA.

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  • Posted 3 months ago.
chandra_avinash
  • Authority 513
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chandra_avinash said in response to:
Malgosia
Malgosia’s post:
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Do you use ‘an’ before an acronym, or ‘a’? Example: I am considering doing an MBA…or I am considering doing a MBA.

I believe that’s dictated by the first letter of the acronym. It’s “an MBA” since the pronunciation is “em-bee-A” – starts with an “E”, a vowel.

Also, we never say “I was hit by AN LASER beam”. It’s always – I was hit by a LASER beam.

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  • Posted about 1 month ago.
pratyushnalam
  • Authority 67
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pratyushnalam said:

quite helpful

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  • Posted about 1 month ago.
Supriya Malla
  • Authority 78
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Supriya Malla said:

Well i need to be familiar with american english.but i have been speaking british english since so many years. what should I do?Please guide.

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  • Posted about 1 month ago.
chandra_avinash
  • Authority 513
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chandra_avinash said in response to:
Supriya Malla
Supriya Malla’s post:
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Well i need to be familiar with american english.but i have been speaking british english since so many years. what should I do?Please guide.

Reading newspapers/journals from the US should serve as a good starting point. Also, you might want to watch News shows where American English is the medium.

It will be important to listen to people speak American English – that way you can get more familiar with it. As a side note, maybe watching sitcoms like FRIENDS, etc or maybe any series from American television would help you – you wont feel bored and will also learn stuff in the process.

Does this solve your query?

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  • Posted about 1 month ago.
oLahav
  • Authority 710
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oLahav said in response to:
chandra_avinash
chandra_avinash’s post:
Citation Body

Reading newspapers/journals from the US should serve as a good starting point. Also, you might want to watch News shows where American English is the medium.

It will be important to listen to people speak American English – that way you can get more familiar with it. As a side note, maybe watching sitcoms like FRIENDS, etc or maybe any series from American television would help you – you wont feel bored and will also learn stuff in the process.

Does this solve your query?

That’s a good advice, watching TV can really help you see how people talk and get familiar with the language.

However, to be honest, speaking British English won’t be really a huge disadvantage in the US. It’s really just a matter of tiny spelling which can be frustrating but you get used to it. In terms of speaking, accent and slang, you can pick it up pretty fast just by being there. And nobody really minds. I’ve changed from British-ish English to Canadian one… spelling is usually the same but sometimes you use a different word to mean the same thing. Now I speak pretty good Canadian, eh? So really it’s not that bad, and just by being in a place you pick up the language tricks in no time.

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  • Posted 29 days ago.
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