Indefinite articles are those such as English a or an , which do not refer to a specific identifiable entity. Indefinites are commonly used to introduce a new discourse referent which can be referred back to in subsequent discussion: A monster ate a cookie. His name is Cookie Monster. In speaking, we use a /ə/ before a consonant sound: … How do we pronounce the? We pronounce the in two ways depending on whether the sound which comes after the is a vowel or a consonant: … When do we use articles? We don’t use the with plural nouns when we are referring to things in general: … What is the pronunciation of an, an-, -an? The rule that many people vaguely remember is that one uses 'a' if the word that follows it begins with a consonant, and one uses 'an' if the following word begins with a vowel. Before a consonant sound represented by a vowel letter a is usual. but an also occurs though less frequently now than formerly. Before unstressed or weakly stressed syllables with initial h both a and an are used in writing. Writers sometimes confuse the use of the articles a and an. We were all taught that a precedes a word starting with a consonant and that an precedes a word starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y). Here’s the secret to making the rule work: The rule applies to the sound of the letter beginning the word, not just the letter itself. Learn the difference between a and an with simple rules, examples, grammar tips, tables, and common mistakes to improve your English writing and speaking skills. By the end, you should be able to look at a noun in a real sentence, decide whether it is countable, uncountable, general, or specific, and choose a, an, the, or no article without guessing. What Are Articles In English Grammar? A, An, and The are English articles. 'A' is used before words starting with a consonant sound, even if the first letter is a vowel. 'An' is used before words starting with a vowel sound, even if the first letter is a consonant. 'And' is a conjunction used to join words or phrases, serving a different purpose than 'a' or 'an'. They are a type of determiner and they go before a noun. A/an before a noun shows that what is referred to is not already known to the speaker, listener, writer and/or reader (it is the indefinite article): Do you have a car? Do you live in a house? No, actually, I live in an apartment. “A” and “an” are indefinite articles and work to modify the noun they precede. They are important to use to introduce proper grammar structure. But how do you know when to use “a” and when to use “an”? Let’s review what an indefinite article is, how it differs from a definite article, and how to know the differences between using “a” and “an.”.