How we refer to singular and plural

To classify or identify something, we can say:

It's a book (a/an + singular noun)

The plural of this is:

They're books (zero + plural noun)

To refer to quantity, we can say:

I've got a book (a/an + singular noun)

In-the plural, when the exact number is not important, we can use quantifiers like some, a few, a lot of [> 5.2], Some/any [> 5.10] are the commonest of these and can be said to be the plural of a/an when we are referring to unspecified number:

I've got some books (some + plural noun)

3.7 The pronunciation of 'a' and 'an'

A (pronounced /a/ in fluent speech) is used before consonant sounds (not just consonant letters); an /an/ is used before vowel sounds (not just words beginning with the vowel letters, a, e, i o u). This can be seen when we use a or an with the alphabet (e.g. This is a U This is an H).

(This is) a B, C, D, G, J, K P, Q, T U, V W, Y Z
(This is) an A, E, F, H, I, L M, N, O, R, S, X
Compare: a fire but an F a noise but an N

a house but an H a radio but an R

a liar but an L a sound but an S

a man but an M a xylophone but an X

an umbrella but a uniform

an unusual case but a union

a year, a university, a European, but an eye, an ear

a hall but an hour (h not pronounced,

a hot dinner but an honour see below)

A few words beginning with h may be preceded by a or an at the discretion of the speaker: e.g. a hotel, a historian or an hotel, an historian If such words are used with an, then h is not pronounced or is pronounced softly. H is not pronounced at all in a few words: e.g. an hen an honest man, an honour an hour

3 Articles

Some common abbreviations (depending on their first letter) are preceded by a: a B.A. (a Bachelor of Arts), or by an: an I.Q. (an Intelligence Quotient).

The pronunciation /ei/ instead of / ə/ fora is often used when we are speaking with special emphasis, with or without a pause: He still refers to his record-player as 'a /ei/ gramophone'. Many native speakers disapprove of the strong pronunciation of a, commonly heard in the language of e.g. broadcasters, because it sounds unnatural.

3.8 Basic uses of 'a/an'

There is no difference in meaning between a and an. When using a,'an we must always bear in mind two basic facts:

1 A/an has an indefinite meaning, (i.e. the person, animal or thing
referred to may be not known to the listener or reader, so a/an has the
sense of any or/ can't/won't tell you which, orit doesn't matter which).

2 A/an can combine only with a singular countable noun.
These two facts underlie all uses of a/an. Some of the most important of
these uses are discussed in the sections that follow.

3.9 Classification: 'a/an' to mean 'an example of that class'