Usage of "a/an and the"

Also,Amy's mother tongue is Chinese ,that means she has to switch from a character language to a language with Latin script.And this is often the biggest problem...and certainly not English with its barely excisting grammer....

I'd just like to point out that, though always written "the," the English definite article comes in two forms just like "a/an."

Try saying:

a boy the boy

an apple the apple

Note the difference in the sound of the two forms of "the."

You use "a" when the word following it begins with a consonant

For example:
a cat
a song


You use "an" when the word following it begins with a vowel

For example:

an essay
an apple

And when the h in the word is silent (when it's not silent you use "a") :

an honor

For "the", it's always used as a definite article no matter what.

the cat
the apple

You use "a" when the word following it begins with a consonant

For example:
a cat
a song


You use "an" when the word following it begins with a vowel

For example:

an essay
an apple

And when the h in the word is silent (when it's not silent you use "a") :

an honor

Viva la Revolución,

You forgot to mention words like ''ewe'', ''university'', ''universe'', ''uniform'', ''unicorn'', ''unicycle'' etc. where you use ''a'', not ''an'' because of the y-sound.

Viva la Revolución,

Sorry for posting in your name. It was a mistake.

Viva la Revolución,

Perhaps ''an historic'' is also worth mentioning, as it has a sounded ''h'', but sometimes we say ''a historic'' and other times we say ''an historic''.

Hi

yes thank you for pointing out those words.

However, I do believe that "a historic" is the correct way of saying it.

think of "a history"

One can say "He has a history of medical problems in his family" but I doubt you would hear "He has an history of medical problem in his family"

I think it's okay if the dialect you speak uses a silent h for the word "history", but I don't know if any dialects have that

However, I do believe that "a historic" is the correct way of saying it.

Nope, Both ''a historic'' and ''an historic'' are correct. ''an history'' is never correct however.

<<I think it's okay if the dialect you speak uses a silent h for the word "history", but I don't know if any dialects have that>>

Accents with h-dropping http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-dropping have a silent ''h'' in ''history''.

Bump.

I'm glad English has almost no grammar, and I'm certainly glad that English has no grammatical gender.

I wouldn't have wanted to go through puberty wondering whether it was "la plume" or "le plume."

I always thank God that English has no grammatical gender. Grammatical gender is pointless. It's a crazy thing to have.

God, it's my birthday today. I'm 24. I'm getting old.

Anyway, I would say that Dutch grammar is probably as easy (or as hard) as English grammar. The Dutch equivalent of "I go, you go, he goes" etc etc are mostly the same, just like they are in English, whereas in French and Italian each one is different.

Actually, no - Dutch present tense verb endings are more like those in German than those in English, and are:

1st sing. : - (German -(e), English -)
2nd sing. : -t (German -(e)st, English -)
3rd sing. : -t (German -(e)t, English -(e)s)
1st pl. : -en (German -en, English -)
2nd pl. : -en (German -(e)t, English -)
3rd pl. : -en (German -en, English -)

I didn't actually mean that they resemble English. I meant that, like in English, they don't change a lot. They are nearly the same, it is easier to learn them, whereas in some other languages all the endings are different. In French, "to go" is -

Je vais
Tu vas
Il va/Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils ont/Elles vont.

Each one is different, but in England and Dutch they are almost unchanging in each one.

"I'm glad English has almost no grammar"

Adam, you say the "darndest" things. If English has almost no grammar, as you claim, how can it possibly work as a language - and just how were you able to write any of your postings?

"[A]nd I'm certainly glad that English has no grammatical gender. I wouldn't have wanted to go through puberty wondering whether it was 'la plume' or 'le plume.'"

Again, this is tosh. French kids don't "go through puberty" worrying about "le" and "la." When you learn a language at your mother's knee from year dot, you readily assimilate gender (so much so that those who are native speakers of such languges will mentally "assign" gender to unfamiliar words based simply on their written appearance or sound).

Try this little test:

That children are very naughty.

Anything wrong with this statement?

"That" should be "those"? Why?

Not just because "children" is plural (the obvious grammatical explanation) but rather because every English native speaker knows instinctively it should be "those" even if they completely illiterate and know nothing of grammar.

But, as you would affirm, having a plural form of "that" would seem pretty "pointless."

"It's a crazy thing to have."

Regret typos in previous posting:

"languges" - "languages"

"even if they completely illiterate" - "even if are they completely illiterate"

Regret typos in previous posting:

"languges" - "languages"

"even if they completely illiterate" - "even if they are completely illiterate"