a, an and plurals

• 5 a, an and plurals

  5.1

  a and an

  

  

  a and an mean "one" and are used before singular countable nouns. How to choose depends on pronunciation:

  • a + consonant sound: a book, a dog, a cat.
  • an + vowel sound: an apple, an egg, an orange.

  我I 有have 一个a 笔pen.

  I have a pen.

  她She 吃eats 一个an 苹果apple.

  She eats an apple.

  Note: Look at the sound, not the letter: an hour (h is silent), a university (pronounced "yu-").

  5.2

  Plural Nouns

  To indicate "more than one," use the plural form of the noun, usually adding -s:

  • Generally add -s: book → books, car → cars.
  • Words ending in -s / -sh / -ch / -x add -es: bus → buses, box → boxes.
  • Consonant + y ending: change y to i and add -es: baby → babies, city → cities.

  我I 有have 两two 猫cats.

  I have two cats.

  Irregular plurals (must memorize):

  • man → men, woman → women, child → children.
  • foot → feet, tooth → teeth, person → people.

  Note: Do not use a / an before plural nouns: ~~a books~~ ✗ → books / two books ✓.

  Common Errors

  • ❌ ~~I have dog.~~ → ✓ I have a dog. — In Chinese you can say "I have dogs," but singular countable nouns in English must have a / an (or my, the, etc.) before them.
  • ❌ ~~an university~~ → ✓ a university; ❌ ~~a hour~~ → ✓ an hour — Look at pronunciation, not spelling: university starts with a consonant sound /j/, and h is silent in hour.
  • ❌ ~~two book~~ → ✓ two books — Chinese nouns do not change for plurality, but nouns after numbers in English require -s; this is easily forgotten.
  • ❌ ~~three childs~~ → ✓ three children — Irregular plurals must be memorized separately: men, women, children, feet, teeth, people.
  • ❌ ~~a people~~ → ✓ a person (one person) / people (many people) — people is inherently plural.

All topics · English Grammar · A1