A/an, plurals: Singular and plural forms

A/an, plurals: Singular and plural forms

Exercise 1

Choose a/an for the following words.

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1 It's ana animal.

2 I need ana new bed.

3 It's aan useful machine.

4 I'm ana waiter.

5 Do you have ana umbrella?

6 I'm aan English teacher.

7 I need aan hat.

8 Is she aan student?

9 We have ana ugly duck.

10 I need aan hour.

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A/an, plurals – Grammar chart

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A/an

We use a/an with singular nouns.

• This is a table. 
• It’s an orange. 

We use a with nouns beginning with a consonant, and we use an with nouns beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).

• Give me an apple. 
• There is an elephant in the zoo. 
• It’s an amazing experience. 

We also use an with nouns beginning with h if the h is not pronounced. But we use a if the h is pronounced.

• Give me an hour. (The h is not pronounced in hour.)
• I want to buy a hat. (The h is pronounced in hat.)

We use a and NOT an with nouns beginning with u when it is pronounced /ju:/, like university. 

• Is there a university in this city? 
• I wear a uniform. 

Plurals in English

Do not use a + plural

We do NOT use a/an with plural nouns.

• These are tables.
• These are a tables.

Regular plurals

We add -s to make plural nouns in English. Sometimes we need to add -es, -ies or –ves. Check the spelling in the grammar chart above.

For more examples of plural spelling rules, see our dictionary entry on spelling.

Irregular plurals

Some words have irregular plurals and do NOT add -s to make their plural form.