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A, a — The Letter “A”
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Meanings:
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The Letter “A” does not have any sort of intrinsic “meaning” in the mundane sense. Instead, it has various different “functions” — as both a Grammatical Unit, and an Element OF a Grammatical Unit. Though it does not have a Meaning — The Letter “A” DOES — however — have many different Usages.
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Usages:
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1. The First Letter Of The English Alphabet — Read The Full Post Here
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2. A Grammatical Unit Referred To As “The Indefinite Article” — referring, non-specifically, to one of some “thing”, and appearing before Nouns (or the Adjective(s)/Adjectival-Phrase(s) that describe that Noun).
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- The Article “A” appears before words that start with a Consonant, and — in The Common Tongue — also appears before words that start with Vowels that have an almost “Consonant” affect. Such as The Letter “Y” when it is used as a Consonant, and The Letter “U” when it is pronounced with a Consonant “Y”/Long “U” Diphthong — such as with the word, “University”.
. - Further-more — The Article “A” — in The Common Tongue — IS used in front of words starting with The Letter “H”. This is because the breathy sound of The Letter “H” acts as a Consonant-sound — un-like in British-English (and also literary & scientific English) where-in it is more common to see The Indefinite Article “An” appearing before words that start with The Letter “H”. This is because in British-English (and it’s related off-shoots — The Letter “H” is NOT usually pronounced at all… Silly Brits! :D) This only continues today out of a matter of tradition and the personal whims of the speaker.
. - Finally — The Article “A” does NOT appear before Acronyms that may start with a Letter which is a Consonant when the pronunciation of that Consonant starts with a vowel-sound. For example: The Letter “F” (pronounced: “ehf”)
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“An FBI agent should never simply be trusted. One should always have a lawyer present when speaking to them or any law official.”
“I say A UFO on my first night in California.”
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In the first example above — The Article “A” is NOT used because the pronunciation of the name of The Letter “F” starts with the sound of The Short Letter “E”.
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In the second example above — The Article “A” IS used because the “U” of UFO is pronounced like the pronoun “You” — with The Letter “Y” taking the consonant sound.
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One may argue that this is just a product of speaking and it should not be written that way. However, if it were written as: “A FBI agent…” or “…An UFO…” — then the brain will still read it with the sound of the “A” or “An” — thus causing a disturbance in the flow of information. 😉
~ “The Teacher”
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Continue Learning
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Pronunciation Portal
Blog Portal
- Learn The Pronunciation Of The Letter “A”
- The Long “A” Pronunciation Like You’ve Never Heard It Before
- The Letter “A” — Grammar Lesson
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Other Sources
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