Lesson 8: What is the singular form of a noun?

Hello everyone.
Let's learn the basics of English together again today.

☆Review of what we've covered so far☆

In Japanese, whether it is "one dog" or "two dogs,"
the form of the noun "dog" does not change.

However, in English, for "one dog" and "two dogs,"
the form of the noun "dog" changes.

When you want to say "one dog,"
"dog" becomes the singular form.

When you want to say "two (or more) dogs,"
"dog" becomes the plural form.

This time, let's learn about the singular form of nouns.

Meaning and usage of the singular form

1. What is the singular form?

Singular means "one person" or "one thing".

Singular form is the form of a noun when used in the singular.

The singular form is the same form found in the dictionary, like "dog" or "apple."

The singular form of a noun is preceded by "
a" or " an."

2. When to use 'a' with a singular noun

We put 'a' before a noun when...

the noun starts with a letter other than a / i / u / e / o (these are called a / i / u / e / o sounds).
Letters other than these (called consonants) are what we use. For example, if you want to say 'a dog', it becomes '


a dog'. a
dog (a dog).

There are many nouns that take 'a'.

a cat (a cat) a day (a day) a
friend (a friend) a girl (a girl) a
box (a box) a bag (a bag)

'c', 'd', 'f', 'g', and 'b' are
all consonants, so they take '
a ' before them.

What other words are there? Please think of some nouns that start with a consonant.

And, let's put " a " before those nouns and
say them out loud.

3. When to use " an " with singular nouns

There are also nouns that take "
an " before them instead of " a ".

These are nouns that start with the letters
a / i / u / e / o (a / i / u / e / o) (these are called
vowels).

For example, "one apple" is,

"an apple (an apple)."

Why is " a " no good?

It is because it is hard to pronounce.

Please try saying it out loud.

× a apple (a apple)

"a apple," isn't that hard to say?
When "a" is repeated twice,
it feels like your breath is caught, doesn't it?

Now, try saying it like this.

an apple (an apple)

How is it?
It became easier to pronounce, right?

To make it even easier to pronounce,

By connecting the 'n' in 'an' with the n' and the following '
a ('vowel'),

it is often pronounced as 'anapple'.

Please try saying the following examples out loud.

an apple (anapple) one apple
an idea (anaidea) one idea
an uncle (anancle) one uncle
an egg (anegg) one egg

In this way,

"a / i / u / e / o (a / i / u / e / o)" (vowel) When a noun starts with a,
an is placed before it if it is singular.

The pronunciation is often "a" + "n-sound".

How was it?

This time, we learned about singular nouns.
Did you understand the difference between a and an?

Next time, I will explain plural nouns.
I would be happy if you read it again.

Your likes and follows
are my encouragement.

Thank you for reading
until the end.

English Grammar Refresher Cafe