English A1 · a, an and plurals
Inglês Nível A1 Tópico 4 5:14 Narração em inglês · Legendas em inglês + 中文 gravadas
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Transcrição
Chinese gets through life without articles; wo you yi ben shu needs no little word before the noun. English cannot manage that. A singular countable noun almost never stands naked; it needs a ticket in front, and today's ticket is a or an. This is the biggest structural gap between Chinese and English, so be patient with yourself. The ticket rule will feel strange for weeks, and then one day leaving it out will feel wrong. That day has a name: progress.
A or an? Listen, don't read. The choice follows the sound, not the spelling. A consonant sound takes a: a book, a cat. A vowel sound takes an: an apple, an egg. The two famous tricksters: a university, because it begins with a yoo sound, a consonant wearing a vowel's costume; and an hour, where the h is silent and the vowel leads. The rule exists for the ear, because a apple is nearly unpronounceable. Your mouth knew this rule before your teacher did.
Pause and choose. An hour, a university. Hour drops its h, so the vowel sound leads and takes an. University starts with yoo, a consonant sound, and takes a. When in doubt, say the phrase aloud and let your ear vote; the ear has been right about this for a thousand years.
Most nouns just add s: books, pens. Some dance first. After s, sh, ch or x, add e s: watch becomes watches, and the dance adds a whole syllable. After a consonant plus y, the y turns into i e s: city, cities. After f or f e, the f becomes v: knife, knives, wife, wives. And after a vowel plus y, nothing dances at all: days, boys. If the plural is easier to say, you probably spelled it right; English spelling is lazy, not cruel.
A few nouns are irregular and simply refuse to dance. Child becomes children, person becomes people, man men, woman women, foot feet, tooth teeth, and mouse becomes mice, the one your computer made part of daily life. And the sheep stays the same in the plural: one sheep, two sheep. The sheep does not change. The sheep does not care. These are very old words that kept their old plural forms, so memorise them as friends, not rules.
A belongs to singular nouns only. I have a cat: one cat, ticket attached. But plurals and general ideas go bare: I like cats, dogs are friendly, I like music. And never a books; the ticket is for one, the s means many, and they cannot share a noun, like two drivers with one steering wheel. The over-ticket error, I like a music, appears exactly because teachers shout don't forget a. The rule has two halves; learn them both.
Pause and choose. I am a student. The Chinese original survives without its measure word, so I am student feels fine, and it is the single most common sentence-level error from Chinese speakers. English wants the ticket, and since student begins with a consonant sound, the ticket is a. Every time.
The last trap is spelling pride. An follows the sound, not the first letter. An honest boy, because the h is silent. A European city, a useful book, because yoo is a consonant sound. The exam loves exactly these four words, which tells you they have caught ten thousand students before you. You are not number ten thousand and one: say it aloud, and let the ear be the teacher.
Describe your bag aloud: a pen, an eraser, three books. Be honest: there is an apple in my bag; probably; it has been there a while. Take a side: I like cats, but I am a dog person; the dogs know. Then the ten fast ones: ear, university, hour, orange, umbrella, European, egg, idea, honest man, yellow bus. A or an? Say them aloud, because your ear is the teacher and it grades instantly.
Pause for four checks. An apple, because a vowel sound follows. A university, because yoo is a consonant sound; the ear rules, not the letter. Watch becomes watches, child becomes children, and the sheep stays a sheep. And I am a student, because the ticket is not optional. Next topic: there is and there are, English's way of saying something exists.