I get confused about how to use "a" and "an" correctly. The question of "a" vs "an" should be decided by the pronunciation of the word that follows the article, right?  But I've seen the following sentences on the internet.   {Alternatives to the TOEFL (ACT, SAT, IELTS)—Minimum Score Requirements An ACT English subscore of 21 An SAT Critical Reading score of 540 An IELTS (International English Language Testing System) total score of 6.5, with no subscore lower than 6.0}  I wonder why "an" is used in the sentence "An SAT Critical Reading score of 540". Shouldn't we say "A SAT Critical Reading score"?  Another example, in the following sentence: {The minimum English language requirement of this position is an TOEFL ibt score of 90.}  Shouldn't we say "a TOEFL ibt score" rather than "an TOEFL ibt score"?
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In the following example, is it appropriate to use a or an as the indefinite article, and why?     He ate __ green apple.   I know that in the case of just "apple", it would be "an apple," but I've heard conflicting answers for "green apple," where the noun is separated from the article by an adjective.  Also, which is more appropriate in this case:     He ate  __ enormous Pop-Tart.
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[...] Leonardo da Vinci became renowned for his multiple talents: he was a painter, architect, engineer, mathematician and inventor.   In the above sentence, why has only one "a" been used, even for words that begin with a vowel?
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My friend is implementing an app for Amazon Alexa which currently speaks the indefinite article "an" in noun phrase acronyms which start with the letter 'U', for example:  (1.) *I found out he was an U.S. president.   My idiolect prefers "a" here instead, presumably because my aggregated experience of the "a/an" contrast perceived this as a rare (unique?) case where English formally licenses a syntactic alternation (insofar as spelling is overt syntax, and syntax is formal) driven by phonotactic considerations.  So much for the grade-school rule-of-thumb about "whether the spelling starts with a vowel." In any case, I'm a native speaker and it does seem to be the case for me:  (2a.) I'm an unhappy camper. (2b.) Bob is a used car salesman.   Since "U.S." in sentence (1) is pronounced in as in (2b), I prefer the phonologically reduced form:  (3) I found out he was a U.S. president.   Apparently contradicting this idea is the evidence of native speakers who insist on "an" for words starting with 'H'.  (4) ?It was an historic victory.   I marked (4) questionable to indicate that it's not in my idiolect. My question is, without devolving into a , are there other considerations beyond what I've mentioned here that could explain or underlie the observed alternation?
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Suddenly, to everybody's surprise, the silent Mr.Smith swung around and addressed Barbara.   The dinner was served by a silent Mrs. Keats.   I saw an infuriated Jennifer, who started shouting at me the moment I opened the door.   It seemed Walter didn't pay any attention to a tearful Kitty.   She hasn't got lovely eyelashes like marvellous Monica.   I bet your Mum kept you well clear of horrible Jesse.      The rule I learned at university said that the is used when the adjective a permanent quality of the person in question. E.g. 'I met the wicked Matilda the other day' would suggest that Matilda is inherently wicked.  The indefinite article a/an, on the other hand, would denote the mood or an unusual quality of the person described.  However, recently I've come across a lot of examples where no article is used with names modified by adjectives (see examples 5 and 6 above).   Can anyone explain why there are no articles in sentences 5 and 6?
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I was looking on the internet but really haven't found anything definite on this. I was writing a letter for IELTS practice and I came with this phrase:     "When I arrived to the school I really did not know what to expect.".   I'm doubtful about whether the "to" is well placed there.  I think the following option with "at" instead of "to" sounds better as in:     "When I arrived at the school I really did not know what to expect."   but I'm not sure if those two are interchangeable in this particular example.
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I'm getting confused about these two sentences:        The government should provide education to its citizens.   She has received a great education since high school.      I think education is an uncountable noun.  Why does the second sentence use the article a before education?   It might be a stupid question, but I really want to understand this topic clearly. I looked on many websites but there was no related answer to this.
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I am confused with the use of an indefinite article in front of British or Chinese.  To my understanding, we can place an indefinite article in front of any “countable noun”.  So, we can say a cup and an orange.   But when it comes to nationalities, it is very confusing. For example, we can say an American or a German. But we cannot say a British or a Chinese.   I looked them up in a dictionary as at first I thought British and Chinese are adjectives in the above statement and that is why we cannot place an article in front of it.   However, the dictionary mentions that they are nouns.  Does that mean they are uncountable nouns?
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There are already topics very close to my question, but not quite there. Does anyone know what to do about this:     We review our accounts p.a. (at the end of the year).   Normally, without the text in parentheses, the "." after "a" would suffice to end the sentence, but then the parentheses come into play.  Should there be another period after the parentheses like in my example, or no?
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On the freelancing website Upwork, there is a US Punctuation and Mechanics test one can take to boost credibility on one's profile for potential clients. These tests are administered by third-party companies that often hire non-native English speakers, so they're known to have some inaccuracies. Unfortunately, because you're allowed to retake the exams after a certain period passes, the correct answers are never revealed. One of the questions on this exam is the following:  Richard’s wife(A) Abigail(B) is an incredibly talented cook(C) and gardener. Comma at (A) Comma at (B) Comma at (C) Comma at (A) and (B) No commas needed  I answered &quot;No commas needed&quot;, but I suspected afterwards that the answer key was looking for the answer choice above it, &quot;Comma at (A) and (B)&quot;. After searching this question online, I found a website with answers for the various questions on the test, and the site claims that &quot;Comma at (A) and (B)&quot; is in fact the correct answer for this particular question. Is the answer key wrong? I feel like there's really no need for any commas, but on the other hand, the appositive Abigail isn't restrictive because it doesn't offer terribly &quot;essential&quot; information, suggesting it could be set off by commas.
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Which one is correct? I am quite sure about "I'm Spanish", but is it wrong if I add an "a" before "Spanish"?
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Some tests have minimums in their possible score range. Cisco's 300-1000 point range, and the SAT's 200-800 point per section range come to mind.  What purpose does this serve? I assume there is some statistical logic behind it. Maybe it would make more sense to me if I understood how they go about calculating the score from a given number of (in)correct questions.
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Why do we use F for failing on an otherwise arbitrary alphabetic grading scale? Isn't E just as meaningful for failing as A is for excellent?  I'm more interested in a response on the history of how the current scale came to be.  (Edit: prompted from the comments below, I am asking about this situation within the context of the American grading system.)
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I wonder about the use of as a and as (only)  in writing. Can you explain when it is correct to quantify the noun when presenting oneself? I will paste some examples for clarity. Are there any rules to follow? Example 1  a) As teacher, I meet many children. b) As a teacher, I meet many children.  Example 2  a) Working as pilot, I fly airplanes. b) Working as a pilot, I fly airplanes.
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a) The more I study, the less I learn. b) More I study, less I learn.  Could we rewrite the sentence shown under the letter a) in the form shown under the letter b) without breaking any grammatical rule? If not, why not?
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Possible Duplicates:             If I remember correctly back to my school days, the rule is to use "a" if the next word starts with a consonant, or "an" if the next word is a vowel.  For example:   This is a banana.  This is an egg.   If the above is correct, then why does this sentence sound wrong...?   The account requires an username.
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I can’t for the life of me figure out where to use a and where to use the — and where there is no article at all. Is there a simple rule of thumb to memorize?   The standard rule you always hear:     “If a person knows which item you are talking about then use "the"   . . . doesn’t clear things up for me, as I have no idea whether or not they know.
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Usually when a word starts with a vowel, we will use "an" before it. But for union, it is "a union" not "an union." It is not explained in the previously mentioned  why union is an exception. It explains how to know exceptions for h like hotels.   Also are there any exceptions for the opposite side, where there should be an "a" but is an "an" instead? (Unfortunately I have no example of a case like this.)