Grammar Activity "A" and "An"

Part 1: Articles a and an are indefinite articles which means they describe a general noun.

Ex. I want a cake. The article is a and it is in front of the noun cake. It is not describing a particular or specific cake but a general one.

Ex. I am under an umbrella. The article is an and it is in front of the noun umbrella. It is not describing a particular or specific umbrella but a general one. 

Why use an instead of a in the second example? An is used as an indefinite article and when the noun has a vowel as the first letter (a, e, i, o, u) or a vowel sound at the beginning.

Ex. I have had an accident. An is the article describing the general noun accident. Because accident begins with the vowel a, an is used as the article.

Ex. I have been watching this movie for an hour. An is the article describing the general noun hour. Hour, although it begins with a consonant, begins with the o sound, the h is silent.

Part 2: Decide which article (a or an) goes in front of the noun.

1.      ___ old man

2.      ___ zoo

3.      ___ ice cream cone

4.      ___ hour

5.      ___ vehicle

6.      ___ egg

7.      ___ university

8.      ___ history

9.      ___ cup

10.  ___ one-day conference

11.  ___ historic occasion

12.  ___ hero

13.  ___ schoolhouse

14.  ___ union

15.  ___ x-ray

Part 3: As a class play Pictionary. Provide students with cards that include a picture/visual and the article/noun pair. When a student guesses the picture being drawn, they must use the appropriate article.