A or An ?

Many students, even those with a pretty high level of English, wrongly believe that they should use 'an' before a noun / compound noun beginning with a vowel and 'a' before a noun beginning with a consonant. However, this is just not the case. Observe:

(i) a university
(ii) a euro coin
(iii) an heirloom
(iv) an MOT test

(vi) a one-way street

The actual rule for choosing the correct indefinite article is based on the sound of the first letter and not on whether it is a vowel or a consonant. In the words 'university' and 'euro' the beginning sound is the consonant sound 'y' and in 'one-way street' the beginning sound is a 'w' and therefore these words are preceded by 'a'. 'MOT' and 'heirloom' both begin with an 'e' vowel sound and so take 'an' as the indefinite article.

So what should you put before these words? Feel free to post your answers in the comments box!

a. umbrella
b. envelope
c. hour
d. european city
e. helicopter
f. unicorn
g. honest gentleman
h. FBI agent
i. hotel
j. egg

Studying that's fun to do!

Students often ask their teachers for ways of improving their level of English outside of class time but can be less than enthusiastic when it comes to completing extra homework exercises or studying their list of irregular verbs. Englishfile, a series of coursebooks from Oxford University Press, has an excellent website where students can learn vocabulary, pronunciation, practical language and grammar in a fun and interactive way. I'm particularly addicted to the skating game / race against time. So if you are looking for a more fun way of brushing up on / practising your English at home you should check out the following address...

http://www.oup.com/elt/englishfile/

...then choose your level and away you go!

Pronunciation Spot

For many students the pronunciation of the -ed ending can be problematic. How do you know if you are supposed to pronounce the 'e' or not? Why do we say want-ed but not liv-ed? Do not fear, there is a general rule to follow;

The only time we pronounce the 'ed' ending is when it is preceded by the letter 't' or the letter 'd'.

So, for example, with verbs like visit, invite, decide, record and want you have to pronounce the 'ed' ending as an extra syllable. But with verbs such as travel, play, like and look, you must not. These endings are pronounced with either a 'd' sound or a 't' sound.

If the infinitive ends in one of the following sounds ('p', 'f', 's', 'k', 'sh', 'ch') the ending is pronounced 't'.

For example - wash (wosht), laugh (laft), like (laikt)

If the infinitive ends in any other sound the ending is pronounced 'd'.

For example - play (pleid), live (livd)

For pronunciation practice check out this website. Happy endings!