an

an — determiner

1. the form of the indefinite article 'a' that you use directly in front of a word

1.限定詞A1
釋義

the form of the indefinite article 'a' that you use directly in front of a word whose first sound is a vowel — like the 'a' in 'apple' or the 'o' in 'orange'. The choice depends on the sound, not the spelling, so silent letters and special pronunciations matter.

例句

Bram ate an apple and a banana for breakfast on Tuesday morning.

an + vowel-sound noun (apple); contrast with 'a banana'

Anaya waited for an hour outside the dentist's office in Taipei.

an + silent 'h' (hour starts with vowel sound)

反義詞
  • a

    used before words that begin with a consonant sound; the two forms together cover all indefinite-article uses

文法句型

an + [word starting with vowel sound]

用法筆記

Choice between 'a' and 'an' is decided by the SOUND that follows, never by the spelled letter. Words starting with a silent 'h' (hour, honest, honour, heir) take 'an'. Words spelled with a vowel letter but pronounced with a /j/ or /w/ consonant sound (university, European, one-way, useful) take 'a'.

常見錯誤

❌I waited for a hour.
✅I waited for an hour.
💡'hour' begins with a vowel sound because the 'h' is silent.
❌She is studying at an university.
✅She is studying at a university.
💡'university' starts with a /j/ sound (like 'you'), which is a consonant sound.
❌My neighbour is an European tourist.
✅My neighbour is a European tourist.
💡'European' begins with a /j/ sound, so use 'a'.
❌He gave me a honest answer.
✅He gave me an honest answer.
💡silent 'h' means the word starts with a vowel sound.

an — suffix