A, An

In English language, there are two types of articles: definite article (the) and indefinite article (a and an). The articles modify nouns like adjectives. Articles are ‘a, an & the’ used at the beginning of noun phrases and few nouns (the Netherlands).

‘A’ is the first letter of the English alphabets (Latin or Roman, too). And, ‘a’ along with ‘an’ is an indefinite article indicating to someone or something: an Indian, a Russian, an American, a Sri Lankan; an egg, an opera.

‘A’ is used before words beginning with con¬so¬nant sounds, and ‘an’ is used before words beginning with vowels or with an unsounded ‘h’ or ‘o’; used with words in phrases and sentences to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns that is about something, about someone.

The Himalayas is one of the longest and highest mountain chains in the world. A Himalayan mountain range in the state of Uttarakhand is prone to landslides or landslips.

An is used before nouns beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u; and there are exceptions); and also with those words though may not begin with a vowel but may have a vowel sound such as with aspirated ‘h’ or a word that has a vowel sound: an MP, an MLA.

An egg, an airplane, an hour (because of ‘o’ sound), an elephant but a European (because of ‘y’ sound)… Whether we should use the articles (a, an, the) or we should leave them out in the text depends on formal and informal writing.

They are left out if the sentence makes sense without using them but their usage is one of the difficult and critical points in English grammar. Pertinently, using them in the right places gives clarity to the reader while in headlines they are ruthlessly avoided.

Note: A noun that has no plural form, and cannot normally be used with the article a/an is an uncountable noun.Examples of uncountable nouns are: mud, furniture, rudeness...

The confusion arises in using ‘a’ or ‘an’ before words starting with ‘h’, ‘e’ and ‘u’ and usually depends upon the stress: is it a hotel or an hotel, a housewife or an housewife (a housewife because ‘h’ is stressed), a European (not an European), a hotelier, a habit, a hysterical action, a university.

Note that some put ‘an’ before history or historical but it is ‘a’ only; but ‘a’ his¬toric occa¬sion and ‘an’ his¬toric occa¬sion are common; it depends on whether the ‘h’ is sounded or left silent. Other examples are: an X-Files episode, an herb, an hour, an honour, an heir.