A/an

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 1

WELCOME

Goals

At the end of this lesson...

• You know how the difference between a and an
• You know personal and possessive pronouns (repetition)

The difference

A vs AN

• We use a and an to talk about things in a general way
• There is a police car outside.
• My aunt lives in an old house.
• We're having a lovely evening.

We decide whether we use a or an based on the pronunciation of the word that follows.

We use a/an to talk about things in a general way, without saying precisely which people or items we are referring to

We decide whether we use a or an based on the pronunciation of the word following the article. 

When to use a

In front of any word that begins with a consonant (not a vowel):

A book

A dog bone

A town

A cup of coffee

A diary

what is a consonant?

what is a vowel?

When to use an

In front of any word that begins with a vowel

A (an apple)

E (an egg)

I (an Ipad)

O (an oven)

U (an umbrella)

Exceptions

Words that start with u or eu pronounced with a /j/ sound

• University, euro, useful = a

Words that start with a "silent" h

• Hour, honest, honour = an

Words that start with o  pronounced with a /w/ sound

• Once, one, onesie = a

What does "exceptions" mean? - uitzonderingen

/j/ sound: (a) - unicorn, university, euro, useful, uniform, universe, Europe

silent /h/: (an) - hour, honour, honest

/w/ sound: (a) - onesie, once, one

a of an?
..... dog

1. a
2. an

a of an?
..... banana

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... artwork

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... uniform

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... commercial

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... hour

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... university

1. a
2. an

A of AN?
.... president

1. a
2. an

A

AN

table

house

egg

chicken

island

phone

orange

What are Possessive Pronouns? Give an example

Possessive Pronouns

My birthday	His birthday is after mine .
Your dog	Is that dog yours ?
His CDs	Those CDs are his .
Her money	The money is all hers .
Its legs	Difference between its and it's
Our laptop	You can borrow ours .
Their friends	They introduced some friends of theirs .

We use the first row with possessive pronouns at the beginning of a noun phrase.

We use the second row without a noun following:

That is my coat. (coat is a noun)

That coat is mine. (no noun following)

The meaning is similar, but the words that follow (or don't) are different

Possessive Pronouns

Possessives often tell us who things belong to or a relationship between two people/things

His birthday is two days after mine. 

That's my diary.

Isn't that your brother?

I

You

He

She

It

We

They

Our

Her

Its

My

Their

His

Your

Goals

At the end of this lesson...

• You know how the difference between a and an
• You know personal and possessive pronouns

What have you learned in this lesson?
Can you give me an example?