A common source of confusion for some English learners is the use of the numeral one vs. the indefinite article a or an. The tendency is to use one rather than a or an, which sounds unnatural in English.
The reality is that native English speakers don’t use one much, even when they refer to a number. When there is just one thing to count they basically ignore the numbers and simply use the indefinite article a or an, for example:
“I’ll have a pint of Guiness, a gin and tonic and two Cokes, please.” (notice that for Cokes the number was used – two – since the person wanted more than one)
“He was away for a week.”
“She’ll be back in a minute.”
“We’re closing the office for a day.”
If you want to make yourself clear, and emphasize a single item, use the numeral one, as in:
“He was away for one week and the whole system collapsed without him.”
“She estimated around one thousand people turned up to the event, up 25% from last year.”
But the rest of the time, to sound really authentic in English, you can drop one in favor of a or an.
Some definitions and rules
A and an are called indefinite articles because they do not say anything specific about the words that follow. For example, think about the sentences, “I need a horse.” or “I’m eating an apple.” You’ll take any horse—just a horse will do. You are eating any apple. But if you say, “I need the horse,” or “I’m eating the apple” then you want a specific horse and you are eating a specific apple. That’s why the is called a definite article—you want something definite.
The rule is that you use a before words that start with a consonant sound and an before words that start with a vowel sound. For example:
“I have a bag.” (bag starts with consonant – b)
“I eat an egg every day.” (egg starts with vowel – e)
The letter “h” makes a vowel sound in some words such as an hour (“hour” starts with an “o” sound), and a consonant sound in other words, such as a historic monument (“historic” starts with a “h” sound).
One is called a numeral and it is used to count and to refer to a single item. For example:
“This is how you count to ten: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”
“I will buy just one bread for us.”
Quiz
Choose the correct option for each sentence below:
- a
- one
- one
- an
- a
- an
- a
- one
- a
- an
- you only have one interesting book about food (all the others are boring)
- you have a book about food which is interesting (and maybe you have other interesting books as well)
- a
- one
- a
- one
- a
- one
- a
- one
Answers
- a, 2. one, 3. an, 4. a, 5. a, 6. you only have one interesting book about food (all the others are boring), 7. a, 8. a, 9. one, 10. a
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