◊ A is used before a consonant sound.
An is used before a vowel sound.
Note that when a word begins with a vowel letter but is pronounced with a consonant sound, a is used.
When an abbreviation begins with a consonant letter but is pronounced with a vowel sound, an is used.
When a word begins with h but the first syllable of the word is not given primary stress, both a and an are used.
2
a — used like one before number words like hundred, thousand, etc.
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a hundred and twenty people
b — used like one before number words like third, fortieth, etc.
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This is a [=one] third the size of that.
c — used like one before units of weight, measurement, etc.
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a pound or two [=one or two pounds]
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a week or two [=one or two weeks]
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a foot and a half of water = one and a half feet of water
d : one single : even one — used in negative constructions
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They didn't charge me a penny. [=they didn't charge me anything at all]
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“Did she say anything about it?” “Not a word.”
3
— used before a word or phrase that indicates a type or class of person or thing — often used before noncount nouns that are modified by an adjective or phrase
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She has a warmth that puts people at ease.
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I've always had a fondness for chocolate.
4
— used like any to refer in a general way to people or things
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A person who is sick can't work well. [=people can't work well if they are sick]
5
— used before a proper noun to indicate limited knowledge about the person or thing being mentioned
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A Mr. Smith [=a man named Mr. Smith] called to ask about the job.
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Among the towns of the area there is a Newton, I believe.
6
a — used before a proper noun that is acting as an example or type
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the attractions of a Boston or a Cleveland
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His friends say he's an Einstein in regard to science.
b — used before the name of a day of the week to refer to one occurrence of it
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My birthday falls on a Tuesday this year.
7
a — used before the name of a person [such as a famous artist] when the name is being used to refer to something [such as a painting] created by that person
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The museum recently purchased a Rembrandt. [=a painting by Rembrandt]
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My violin is a Stradivarius.
b — used before a family name to show that someone is a member of that family
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Did you know that she's a Kennedy?
8
— used before a proper noun referring to a person or thing that has a particular quality
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A triumphant Ms. Jones greeted her supporters. [=Ms. Jones was triumphant when she greeted her supporters]
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We were met at the door by an embarrassed Mr. Brown. [=Mr. Brown was embarrassed when he met us at the door]
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We had a very mild January.
9
— used with words like bit and little to form phrases that describe quantity, amount, or degree
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It's getting a little late.
10
— used in phrases that describe how often something occurs, how fast something is going, etc.
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They meet twice a week. [=twice each week]
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The car was traveling at a hundred miles an [=per] hour.
[ uh; when stressed ey ] / ə; when stressed eɪ / See synonyms for a on Thesaurus.com not any particular or certain one of a class or group: a man; a chemical; a house. a certain; a particular: one at a time; two of a kind; A Miss Johnson called. another; one typically resembling: a Cicero in eloquence; a Jonah. one [used before plural nouns that are preceded by a quantifier singular in form]: a hundred men [compare hundreds of men]; a dozen times [compare dozens of times]. indefinitely or nonspecifically [used with adjectives expressing number]: a great many years; a few stars. one [used before a noun expressing quantity]: a yard of ribbon; a score of times. any; a single: not a one.
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1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; originally preconsonantal phonetic variant of an1
In both spoken and written English the choice of a1 or an1 is determined by the initial sound of the word that follows. Before a consonant sound, a is used; before a vowel sound, an : a book, a rose; an apple, an opera. Problems arise occasionally when the following word begins with a vowel letter but actually starts with a consonant sound, or vice versa. Some words beginning with the vowel letter u and all words beginning with the vowel letters eu are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound, as if the first letter were y : a union; a European. Some other spellings that begin with a vowel letter may also stand for an initial consonant sound: a ewe; a ewer. The words one and once and all compounds of which they are the first element begin with a w sound: a one-room apartment; a once-famous actor.
The names of the consonant letters f, h, l, m, n, r, s, and x are pronounced with a beginning vowel sound. When these letters are used as words or to form words, they are preceded by an : to rent an L-shaped studio; to fly an SST. The names of the vowel letter u and the semivowel letters w and y are pronounced with a beginning consonant sound. When used as words, they are preceded by a : a U-turn; The plumber installed a Y in the line.
In some words beginning with the letter h, the h is not pronounced; the words actually begin with a vowel sound: an hour; an honor. When the h is strongly pronounced, as in a stressed syllable at the beginning of a word, it is preceded by a : a history of the Sioux; a hero sandwich. [In former times an was used before strongly pronounced h in a stressed first syllable: an hundred. ] Such adjectives as historic, historical, heroic, and habitual, which begin with an unstressed syllable and often with a silent or weakly pronounced h, are commonly preceded by an, especially in British English. But the use of a rather than an is widespread in both speech and writing: a historical novel; a habitual criminal. Hotel and unique are occasionally preceded by an, but this use is increasingly old-fashioned. Although in some dialects an has yielded to a in all cases, edited writing reflects usage as described above.
7-dehydrocholesterol, “800” number, 8d, 900 number, 911, a, A1, A1c, A2, A2 level, A3
[ uh; when stressed ey ] / ə; when stressed eɪ / each; every; per: ten cents a sheet; three times a day.
2
Originally Middle English a, preconsonantal variant of on [see a-1]; confused with a1
Informal. a reduced, unstressed form of of [often written as part of a single, unhyphenated word]: cloth a gold; time a day; kinda; sorta.
3
Middle English; unstressed preconsonantal variant of of1
a reduced, unstressed form of auxiliary have following some modals, as might, should, could, would, and must [usually written as part of a single, unhyphenated word]: We shoulda gone.
4
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; a phonetic variant of have
/ ə, æ, ɑ /
5
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English a, ha
abbreviation Measurements.
/ ɑ, ɔ /
/ eɪ / noun, plural A's or As, a's or as. the first letter of the English alphabet, a vowel. any spoken sound represented by the letter A or a, as in bake, hat, father, or small. something having the shape of an A. a written or printed representation of the letter A or a. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter A or a.
Electricity. ampere; amperes. Physics. angstrom; angstroms. British. arterial [used with a road number to designate a major highway]: Take the A525 to Ruthin.
the first in order or in a series. Sometimes a .
Music.
- the sixth tone in the scale of C major or the first tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
- a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
- a written or printed note representing this tone.
- [in the fixed system of solmization] the sixth tone of the scale of C major, called la.
- the tonality having A as the tonic note.
Physiology. a major blood group, usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of group A or AB and to receive blood from persons of O or A.Compare ABO system.
Sometimes a . the medieval Roman numeral for 50 or 500.Compare Roman numerals.
Chemistry. [formerly] argon.
Chemistry, Physics. mass number.
Biochemistry.
Also a .Logic. universal affirmative.
a proportional shoe width size, narrower than B and wider than AA.
a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than B and larger than AA.
a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than AA and higher than BBB.
a reduced form of the Old English preposition on, meaning “on,” “in,” “into,” “to,” “toward,” preserved before a noun in a prepositional phrase, forming a predicate adjective or an adverbial element [afoot; abed; ashore; aside; away], or before an adjective [afar; aloud; alow], as a moribund prefix with a verb [acknowledge], and in archaic and dialectal use before a present participle in -ing [set the bells aringing]; and added to a verb stem with the force of a present participle [ablaze; agape; aglow; astride; and originally, awry].
1
Middle English, late Old English; cf. a2, nowadays
a reduced form of the Old English preposition of: akin; afresh; anew.
an old point-action prefix, not referring to an act as a whole, but only to the beginning or end: She arose [rose up]. They abided by their beliefs [remained faithful to the end].
3
Middle English; Old English a- [unstressed], ǣ-, ā-, ō- [stressed; see abb, woof1, oakum], rarely or- [see ordeal], ultimately from unattested Germanic uz- from unstressed Indo-European uss-, from ud-s [these latter two also unattested], akin to out; in some cases confused with a-4, as in abridge
variant of ab- before p and v: aperient; avert.
4
Middle English