Your learning plan · Continue · Review →
a, an and plurals
IntroducedYour saved position stays in this browser. Resuming does not complete the lesson or answer its questions.
One or many?
- Use a / an to introduce one countable thing: a book, an apple. Other words can come before a singular noun too: my book, this apple, the bag.
- Use a plural for more than one in these examples: two books, three apples. A plural does not always end in -s: two children.
- Outcome: choose an article by sound and a noun form that fits the meaning. Start with this, that, these and those. Starting check: is my bag missing a? No — my already introduces the bag.
One apple is a snack. Ten apples are a plan.
a and an
- a before a consonant sound: a car, a dog.
- an before a vowel sound: an egg, an hour (h is silent). Use a university: its first sound is /j/, like the start of yes. Check the next sound, not the first letter.
- Use them only with singular countable nouns.
- Before “old bag”, use “an”: “old” starts with a vowel sound. Compare “a useful bag”: “useful” starts with /j/, as in “yes”. The noun stays the same.
- A first-letter guess would give the wrong result for “an hour” and “a university”. Check the first sound you will actually say.
a or an?
Use a before a consonant sound, an before a vowel sound.
Choose: I eat ___ apple.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“apple” begins with a vowel sound → an apple.
Choose a/an for the next spoken sound: ___ old coat.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“old” starts with a vowel sound, so “an old coat” fits. Check the adjective next to the article, not the later noun.
Choose the pair that follows sound in ordinary English.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“hour” has a silent h; “university” begins with the consonant sound /j/, as in “yes”. First letters alone give the wrong choices here.
Plurals: -s, -es, -ies
- Most nouns: add -s → book → books.
- Common -es plurals include bus → buses, dish → dishes, box → boxes. Many words ending in -ch do this too, such as watch → watches; spelling rules have exceptions, such as stomach → stomachs.
- Consonant + y: change y to i, add -es → baby → babies.
- “one party → two parties”: consonant + y changes to ies. Compare “one toy → two toys”: vowel + y keeps y and adds s.
- Keep the intended number first, then check the noun. “one child → two children” changes irregularly; “one box → two boxes” uses es.
Write the plural of “city”.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Consonant + y → change y to i, add -es: city → cities.
Translate into English: 我有两只猫。
Difficulty 3/5 · 200 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Two + plural noun: “I have two cats.” (not “two cat”)
Write the plural of “toy”. Check the letter before y.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
A vowel comes before y in “toy”, so keep y and add s: “toys”. The consonant + y change in “city → cities” does not apply.
Irregular plurals (learn these!)
- man → men, woman → women, child → children.
- foot → feet, tooth → teeth, person → people.
- These common irregular forms need practice. Some nouns also have other plural uses: persons occurs in formal notices; people is the ordinary plural in three people. Do not add -s mechanically to every noun.
What is the plural of “child”?
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“child” is irregular: child → children.
Complete with the noun form for exactly one: One ___ is waiting.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“one” needs a singular noun here: “child”. “children” is the ordinary plural, not “childs”.
Common mistakes
- To introduce one dog here, say I have a dog, not I have dog. But my dog, this dog and the dog can also be correct in other sentences; do not add a before them.
- For two of these objects, use two books, not two book. The number one takes the singular; some plural forms change differently, as in two children.
- ❌ a hour → ✓ an hour — the h is silent. Listen to the sound, not the letter.
- “This is my coat” already identifies the coat as mine. “This is a coat” introduces an unspecified coat. Adding a before my mixes the two patterns.
- “the coats” can name known coats. Plural nouns can have the; the problem in “a coats” is the singular article with that plural noun.
Match the singular to its plural.
Difficulty 2/5 · 140 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
man → men and child → children are irregular; box → boxes (-es); city → cities (y → ies).
Is this correct? “She is a engineer.”
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
engineer starts with a vowel sound → an engineer.
Keep the meaning that the bag belongs to me. Choose the complete phrase.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“my” already introduces the noun. Do not put a/an before it in this phrase. A singular noun can use a determiner other than a/an.
- a / an introduces one countable thing; choose by the next sound, including an adjective: an old bag, a useful bag.
- Plural = usually + -s (or -es / -ies).
- Some are irregular: children, people, men, women. Later recall: name one new object with a/an, then name two of it and explain the change. Continue with there is and there are. Try the fresh practice that follows. These activities do not establish independent mastery or pronunciation ability.
Usage guidance: Cambridge, a/an and the. Article sound guidance rechecked 2026-10-21 against British Council, articles. Local source checks; independent language, answer and learner review pending.
What is in your bag? Write one English sentence with a plural noun (for example: two books, three pens).
Difficulty 3/5 · 200 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Example: “I have three pens and two books.”
Choose the next sound
- The next written tasks mix article choice and noun form. Choose for the complete phrase, including an adjective before the noun.
- These are written language decisions. They do not assess hearing or pronunciation; use a pronunciation source if you are unsure how a word starts.
Choose a or an only: Please bring ___ umbrella.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“umbrella” begins with a vowel sound: “an umbrella”. This is one countable object.
Choose a/an for this phrase.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“uniform” starts with /j/, as in “yes”, so “a uniform” fits despite the letter u.
Choose a or an only: She rides ___ old bike.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
The next word is “old”, which starts with a vowel sound: “an old bike”. The b in bike is not next to the article.
Choose a/an for this phrase.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“useful” begins with /j/, so “a useful map” fits. Its written u does not require an.
Choose a or an only: There is ___ empty box here.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“empty” begins with a vowel sound: “an empty box”. Look at the next spoken word, not box.
Choose a/an for this phrase.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“small” begins with a consonant sound: “a small orange”. Orange comes later and does not control this choice.
Choose a or an only: They took ___ early train.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“early” begins with a vowel sound: “an early train”. The later noun train does not decide the article.
Choose a/an for this new phrase.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“evening” begins with a vowel sound: “an evening class”. Choose by the adjective immediately after the article.
Write the plural of “key”.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
A vowel comes before y in “key”. Keep y and add s: “keys”, not keies.
Complete with the plural of story: He tells two ___ about school.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
The consonant r comes before y. Change y to i and add es: “two stories”. Keep the intended number two.
Keep number and reference
- Read what the sentence means: one object or a group, a new object or something already identified. Keep that meaning when repairing a form.
- A plural may need s, es, ies or an irregular change. An existing determiner such as my, these or the may already introduce the noun.
Write the plural of “brush”.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
For this sh ending, add es: “brushes”. The extra es is part of the written plural.
The shop has exactly two of this object. Choose the noun form.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“two” requires the plural here. This ch ending takes es: “watches”.
Complete with the plural of day: We stayed for three ___.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
The vowel a comes before y, so keep y and add s: “three days”. Consonant + y would use a different change.
Choose the ordinary plural for this group.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“woman → women” is an irregular plural. Three needs the plural here; adding s gives the wrong ordinary form.
Complete with the ordinary plural of tooth: One tooth is loose. Now two ___ are loose.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
The intended number has changed from one to two. Use the irregular plural “teeth”, not tooths.
One foot needs a sock. Choose the noun phrase for both.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
For body parts, “foot → feet”. The intended number is two, so use “feet”.
Complete with the plural of family: Two ___ live in this house.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
The consonant l comes before y. Change y to i and add es: “families”. Keep the two groups, rather than changing the meaning to one person.
Keep the meaning that the coat belongs to me. Choose the phrase.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“my coat” already has a determiner. Adding a/an before my does not repair the phrase; it makes it incorrect.
Choose the phrase for the two chairs near you.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“these” introduces a plural noun: “these chairs”. It does not take a before it.
The listener already knows which two bags you mean. Choose a grammatical phrase keeping that known reference.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“the bags” keeps the known reference and plural number. The can introduce a plural noun; a cannot be added before it here.
Transfer: describe a new bag
- Describe one container and the objects inside it. Its contents do not change whether the named container is one or many.
- Write the two English sentences before opening the model. Compare meaning and form; several complete answers can work.
You are writing a label for one new object. Keep both the object and its description.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“an empty bottle” keeps one bottle and uses an before the vowel sound in empty. Plural bottles would change the intended number.
You mean one box holding three pencils. Choose the phrase naming the box, not its contents.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“a box of three pencils” keeps one box and three pencils. The number of objects inside does not make box plural.
Write two English sentences. First say you have one empty bag. Then say that two toys are in it. Use a/an where needed.
Compare the object, number and noun phrase. Revise a mismatch; this is one possible response, not automatic writing assessment.
Return and repair
- Tomorrow, choose a new everyday object. Describe one with a/an, then two of the same object; explain the article and plural choices. Try recall without reopening the examples.
- Repair the final sentences, then continue with there is and there are. Split study across sessions if useful; the planning range is provisional until learner timing is observed.
Repair only the article and plural errors, keeping the same objects and numbers: an useful bag and two baby.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“useful” begins with /j/, so use a; two needs the plural “babies”. Repair both decisions without changing the meaning.
Repair these two English sentences without changing the intended ownership or number: This is a my bag. I have two childs.
Compare the object, number and noun phrase. Revise a mismatch; this is one possible response, not automatic writing assessment.