Hi, this is Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on when to use indefinite
articles, which are "a" or "an" or "no article". And this is the symbol we will use, meaning
"no article", so you don't say "a" or "an" before the noun.
OK, this is a problem that is actually very common for new speakers of English, especially
when it comes to writing and speaking. So, this is a production problem.
So, I have a few sentences here, and I'm going to explain the rules to you about when you
should use "a", "an" or "no article" whatsoever. Now, keep in mind, this does not cover the
word "the". There are actually lessons on www.engvid.com that will help you with that
as well, and I recommend checking those out after seeing this lesson.
OK, so we have a sentence here, "My family has dog", and an apple is red. First, let's
look at this, the first sentence again. "My family has dog." OK, so the first thing we
need to identify here is that "dog", the noun "dog", can you count dogs? Is it a count noun
or a non-count noun? OK, if it is a count noun, meaning if you can say one dog, two
dogs, three dogs, four dogs, then if it's in the singular form, so just one dog, but
you can count more, but it's only one, you have to use an article. OK, so you can't say
"My family has dog", you have to say "My family has a dog." OK, and here, "An apple is red."
This is a general statement. You're making a generalization about a common noun. Here,
the common noun is an apple. We can also say "A banana is yellow." OK, so when you're making
a generalization about a generic noun, or if you want to call it a common noun, then
you would have to use an article as well. OK, so the rule that we can put here is that
you can use it for singular count nouns and generalizations. So these are, generalizations
just mean general statements about common nouns. OK, so let's look at the
second set of sentences here. So we have "I like to drink a water" and "I enjoy eating
apples." OK, so can you count water? If you have like a bathtub full of water, for example,
can you say "There is one water, two waters, three waters"? No, water is a non-count noun.
You cannot count water, just like you cannot count electricity. Electricity is another
example of a non-count noun. You can't say "one electricity, two electricities." It's
all electricity. OK, so in this case, we're looking at water, right? So, "I like to drink
a water." No, when you have a non-count noun, you do not use an article. You do not use
a or an, the indefinite article. OK, so you just say "I like to drink water." OK, and
if you're looking at this statement here, "I enjoy eating apples," you're not using
any kind of article because it is, this is a count noun. Remember, just like up here,
we have an apple. Remember, you can have one apple, two apples, three apples. You can count
apples, but when you're doing the plural form, so when you're talking about two apples or
four apples or any number of apples, you do not use an article. OK, so you cannot say
"I enjoy eating an apples" or "apples." "I enjoy eating apples." So, the rule here is,
we use, again, we use no article, no article for, OK, sorry about that, for non-count nouns
and plural count nouns. OK, and use it for plural count nouns. So, remember, we can count
apples, right? So, if you have more than one, you do not say "a apples" or "an apples."
It's just "apples." Whereas, if you're talking about one apple, you would say "an apple."
Just like here, "an apple" is red. OK, so if you'd like to check out how to use or when
to use "a, an" or "no article" and really test your knowledge, you can check out www.engvid.com
and the quiz on the site. Thank you for watching. I really hope this improves your writing as
well as your speaking, and I'll see you next time. OK, one more quick reminder. So, some
of you might have been confused when I said "a apple," "an apple." You can actually only
say "an apple." So, let me do a quick refresher for you as to when to use "a" and when to
use "an" before a word that begins with either a consonant sound or a vowel sound. So, here
we have a clock. We cannot say "an clock" because the word "clock" itself begins with
a consonant sound. So, either a "k," "g," "b," "n," "n." Those kinds of sounds. Here we have "an arm."
We use "an" because this is a vowel sound. So, for vowel sounds, words that begin with
vowel sounds like "a," "i," "e," "o," "u," we have to use "an" because if we say "a arm,"
it sounds very, very awkward. It does not sound correct. So, "an arm." "A door," similar
to "a clock." The same thing as "a clock," right? This is not a "e," "a," "u," "o" kind
of sound, but just a consonant sound. So, we can't say "an door." It's "a door." Here
we have "an ant," same with "an arm." It would sound very, very silly to say "a ant." So,
because this is a vowel sound, we have to use "an." Now, here we have "an honest man."
The reason it's not "a," despite, you might look at this and say, "Wait, but 'h' is a
consonant." You know, it's with the "b's" and the "k's" and the "m's" and all the consonant
letters. The letter is not important. It's the sound that the word makes. So, "a honest
man," again, it's that "a," "a." No, that does not go well together. It's "an honest
man," because we don't pronounce this "honest." If you did say "honest," then "a honest man"
would be acceptable. But again, because the sound is a vowel sound, "an honest man" is
correct. Okay? I hope you enjoyed that. I'll see you later. Take care.