₦airaland Forum

Veebliz:
It's: take an S.
So many people usually get confused when it comes to using the indefinite articles: "a" and "an". I have seen people who think that the indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a consonant letter and "an" before words that begin with a vowel letter. This is not true, of course. The indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a constant sound. For example:

A university. NOT An university.
A unique way. NOT An unique way.
A usual thing, A European, A euphemism.

If you look at the adjectives and nouns above, you'll notice that they're spelt with vowels, but when you sound them out, you get a Y sound, which is a consonant sound.

The indefinite article "an" is used with words that begin with a vowel sound.

An example ✓

So you would say: The word - search begins with an S. The S is a letter that has its own pronunciation - it's pronounced "es". Try sounding out all the letters of the English alphabet and you can easily know which article to use.


Some people do also get confused about words that begin with an H. The H can be either pronounced or silent.
This is a happy person. ✓
This is an happy person. ×
It will take an hour. ✓
It will take a hour. ×
You're an honest person. ✓
That jam was a hit. ✓

We received an SOS from that area last week. ✓

We received a SOS from that area last week. ×

I will send you an SOS message. ✓

I will send you a SOS message. ×

I saw a UFO last week. ✓

I saw an UFO last week. ×

It's pretty easy. Just remember: it has to do with the sound.

The choice of articles to use depends on the letters which begin the word.

We have Definite Article (The) and the Indefinite Article (A, An)

We use ''a' for words beginning with a consonant - b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,z
We can say: a bag, a computer, a table etc.

We also use 'a' for vowels which sound like consonants. E.g. a union, a European, a uniform etc

We use 'an' for vowels -a,e,I,o,u
We can say: an egg, an orange, an uncle etc

We can also use 'an' for the letter 'h' when it is silent.
Now, in all of the English language vocabulary, we have only 4 words with the silent 'h' They are: an hour, an honour, an honest...boy, man or woman, an heir.

Therefore it's incorrect to say: an hospital, an happy ....., an habit etc.

Concerning the SOS part, you're correct the letter 'S' has a vowel sound because you are spelling the Acronym, something like: Es...O...Es. imagine you want to say the word 'estate' The correct thing to say of course is an SOS.

I hope this helps. Thanks.

Kingchineme6:
Honestly, I didn't.

So veebliz, why you even mention Spanish at all at all?

placeofallure:
The choice of articles to use depends on the letters which begin the word.

We have Definite Article (The) and the Indefinite Article (A, An)

We use ''a' for words beginning with a consonant - b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,z
We can say: a bag, a computer, a table etc.

We also use 'a' for vowels which sound like consonants. E.g. a union, a European, a uniform etc

We use 'an' for vowels -a,e,I,o,u
We can say: an egg, an orange, an uncle etc

We can also use 'an' for the letter 'h' when it is silent.
Now, in all of the English language vocabulary, we have only 4 words with the silent 'h' They are: an hour, an honour, an honest...boy, man or woman, an heir.

Therefore it's incorrect to say: an hospital, an happy ....., an habit etc.

Concerning the SOS part, you're correct the letter 'S' has a vowel sound because you are spelling the Acronym, something like: Es...O...Es. imagine you want to say the word 'estate' The correct thing to say of course is an SOS.

I hope this helps. Thanks.

The choice of articles depends on the sound, I've already explained all that stuff.

Veebliz:
You didn't get it.

what is the difference between to speak to and to speak with

bluefilm:
So veebliz, why you even mention Spanish at all at all?

Okay, there are some Nigerians who like learning foreign languages - languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese and the like, most of the people who speak these languages like learning English and they're always looking for where they can learn easily, you can easily find them in WhatsApp groups. If they find out that you're from an English speaking country, they'll most likely ask you to help them with English. Now, imagine someone asking you which of these is correct in a WhatsApp group:

There are people who like...

or

There are people who likes...


Or asking you if the correct thing is: It's getting out of hands or It's getting out of hand.

...and you can't give a correct answer.

NYCnextStop:
what is the difference between to speak to and to speak with

Both have very subtle differences. "To speak to" and "to speak with" can be used for the situation where A and B speak to each other. To be more specific, "to speak to" can also be used for when a person speaks and the other person listens without talking.

Veebliz:
Judging by your reply, you didn't understand the message.

My reply was . Who language epp

NiCurious:
I am
I am happy, I am at home, I am eating.
These examples make a statement about myself.

I'm
I'm happy, I'm at home, I'm eating.
These examples make the same statements about myself.
I'm is simply a contraction of I am, and means the same thing, but is informal.

Am I
When asking a question about one's self, reverse the word order of I am to am I.
Examples: Am I ready for this exam? Am I too tired to do this? Am I tall enough to touch the ceiling?
It is the same syntax used when asking questions about other people.
Are you ready for this exam? Is he too tired to do this? Are we tall enough to touch the ceiling?
To answer by making a statement, turn the verb and subject around again, to subject and verb:
I am ready for this exam. You are ready for this exam. I am too tired to do this. He is too tired to do this. I am tall enough to touch the ceiling. We are tall enough to touch the ceiling.

Thanks sweetheart

placeofallure:
I don't get you, Mister?

Oh, just that you had said "an advice" instead of "advice". That's all.

Nope nope. Pls research

Veebliz:
Okay, let me explain it to you.

Wrong or Wrongly.

In informal language, which is often the natural thing, wrong can be used instead of wrongly, when it means "incorrectly" and comes after a verb or its object.


My name was spelt wrong.

What did I do wrong?

You pronounced it wrong.

You guessed wrong.


Wrongly is usually used before a past participle.

My name was wrongly spelt.

Phccareers:
Nope nope. Pls research

"Wrong can only be used as an adjective and Wrongly as an adverb."

If you still think this way, then you might need to expand your English. Like I explained, it's perfectly normal and natural to use wrong as an adverb instead of wrongly.

The English language is not a static language, things change all the time and so does English.

You can do your research, ask people who are very excellent at English, they'll tell you the same thing. I attached some pictures, just in case you need more information.


Here's other information : https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/wrong-or-wrongly

Veebliz:
I do have a group on WhatsApp, but it's an English and Spanish exchange group.

How can I be added to the group.
Just sent you a mail

jokolo282:
How can I be added to the group.
Just sent you a mail

Here's my WhatsApp number: +2348066222055. Hit me up, please.

Veebliz:
Some grammatical mistakes you make and things you say wrong.


Hello, everyone. Before I shoot, I’d like you to read this:

After learning some Spanish and having to correct a lot of English in WhatsApp groups, I’ve discovered that some of us say some things wrong. Some like saying things like “English is not our language”, “Who English epp? (Who does English help?)” “Does it add money to my account?” especially when you correct them. But most of these are said out of ignorance. English is not your language, but why do you use it? English has helped a lot of people, YES! It has. Why else do we use English to teach at school? In fact, more research has been done in English than in any other language, 98% of scientific materials published today are in English, I’m not saying that other languages are inferior, but the truth is that, some people do need to stop being ignorant and face it – English really DOES matter…and YES – it can add money to your account in so many ways; you think about it.

Yeah, I feel like it’s important for me to add this: I’ve come across some Nigerians who speak English as their first tongue; I do as well, so the idea of saying English is not our language doesn’t make any sense at all. I have no problem with anybody speaking any indigenous language.

The English language is not a foreign language to Nigeria, it has mixed with our cultures in a unique way, and therefore has become ours – one of our languages, even though I don’t speak the language of my indigenous tribe, I still have some of their cultural values instilled in me, I cherish and respect them.

Aha! I must not skip this; I've interacted with Brits and Americans on the internet, so I see them make silly mistakes as well, but the ones I've written here are some of the mistakes I see my country people make often. Let’s see some of the grammatical mistakes people make and things they say wrong.

1) The verb – to make;

Of course, you would have definitely seen some people make mistakes with this verb, it’s common to hear people say things like:
“This picture makes me TO remember my past.”
“Eating all the time will make you TO be fat.”
“If you use this medicine, it will make you TO sleep.”
I am sure you’ve already spotted the mistake, right? – Yeah, I made it obvious. The verb – to make doesn’t take “to” after it, so the correct thing to say in each sentence above is: “This picture makes me remember my past.”
“Eating all the time will make you (be) fat” – in this kind of sentence, it’s more common and therefore more natural to skip the verb – “be”.
“If you use this medicine, it will make you sleep.”
The only time it’s fine to use “TO” after the verb – to make is when it is in the passive; for example, “I was made TO kneel down yesterday at school.” NOT I was made kneel down yesterday at school.”


2) The verb – to enable;

This verb requires “to” after it, but it is so amusing that some people would leave out “to” using this verb but would use it with the verb “to make”.
Here is an example: “This software will enable you TO work on your computer efficiently.” NOT “This software will enable you work on your computer efficiently.”


3) The verb – to allow;

This verb also requires “to” after it.
Here is an example: “My parents will not allow me TO go out today.” NOT “My parents will not allow me go out today.”


4) The verb – to reply;

The mistakes made with this verb are pretty common, this verb is intransitive, which means it cannot go with a direct object, therefore, it needs a preposition for it to make sense, and therefore, you reply TO somebody or TO something. NOT reply somebody or something.
“Why didn’t you reply my messages?” is WRONG. The correct thing is: “Why didn’t you reply TO my messages?”


5) The idiom – to be about to do something;

Hahahaha , I remember hearing someone say: “I was just about asking same thing.” Well, the correct thing is: “I was just about TO ask you THE same thing.”


6) The noun – stuff;

Yeah! This particular noun is such a pain in the ass for some people, it is uncountable, so, it cannot take an S after it and an indefinite article can’t be used with it either.
“Please give me five minutes – I want to get my STUFF” NOT “Please give me five minutes – I want to get my stuffs”.
“Where did you get all this stuff?” NOT “Where did you get all these stuffs?”
“Where IS all my stuff?” NOT “Where are all my stuffs?”
“This is good stuff.” NOT “This is a good stuff.”
The only context where stuff can take an S is if it’s used as a verb: “Ade always stuffs himself with so much junk food.”


7) The nouns – slang and jargon;

English is weird, yeah…but it’s not hard. So many people make mistakes with these nouns - These nouns are uncountable – yeah you read it right; UNCOUNTABLE.
I remember reading an article sometime ago, it had: “20 slangs you will hear in Nigeria” as its title: If you’ve been reading this article carefully, you will have known what is wrong with the sentence.
Numbers can’t be used with uncountable nouns, so the correct thing is: “20 SLANG WORDS/EXPRESSIONS/TERMS you will hear in Nigeria”. Or simply put: “Some slang you will hear in Nigeria.” – So you can use “some” with uncountable nouns and countable nouns as well.
“That is internet slang.” NOT “That is an internet slang.”
“Too much slang was used in the movie.” NOT “Too many slangs were used in the movie.”
“His messages were full of jargon.” NOT “His messages were full of jargons.”


8 ) The noun – information;

I don’t need to explain this, just keep it in mind that it is UNCOUNTABLE.
“Thank you for that information.” NOT “Thank you for those informations”
“What a wonderful piece of information!” NOT “What a wonderful information!”
“I want to share some information with you.” NOT “I want to share you an information.”


9) The noun – advice;

This is uncountable as well: make sure you do not mistake it for the verb: advise. The noun is spelt with a C and the verb with an S.
“I need (some) advice from you.” NOT “I need some advices from you.” NOT “I need an advice from you.”


10) All what;

If you’ve been saying this, then you need to STOP saying it! This is WRONG! It should be either: “All (that)” or “All OF what”.
“All (that) I’ve been saying is that….” NOT “All what I’ve been saying is that…”


11) The noun – headache;

Just as people make mistakes with uncountable nouns, they also do the same thing with countable nouns – it’s very common to hear “I am having headache”. This sentence is wrong. It should be: “I have a headache.”


12) The noun – news;

This is an uncountable noun.
“This is good news!” NOT “This is a good news!”


13) The expression – in the twinkling of an eye;

I’ve heard and seen people say: “In the twinkle of an eye.” – This is wrong of course: it should be: “In the twinkling of an eye.”


14) The famous – “I don’t get”.

Okay, I don’t want to be too annoying because I KNOW that some will get angry reading this article, but guess what? Learning never ends. We are used to saying this, but you should know that the verb – to get in this case is transitive, so it needs an object to sound okay.
So I recommend that you start saying: “I don’t get IT.”
Saying “I don’t get” has always sounded weird to me, I’ve asked some foreigners just to be sure it's not just me but they said it sounded weird to them as well.


15) The noun – furniture;

I usually see furniture makers put up a sign like “ABC furnitures.”
This doesn’t work in English; it’s an uncountable noun, so you already know the drill.
“They like playing with furniture.” NOT “They like playing with furnitures.”


I am Nigerian, so I speak more Nigerian English, I don’t hate it, I just like when people make good use of it because I know what it feels like when you murder someone's language. When I was in junior secondary school, I remember saying something wrong in Yoruba while I was playing with my friends, you needed to have seen how three of them were throwing corrections at me. (
There are so many people who care about mistakes – especially in English.
These are just a few of the mistakes. I could keep on writing and writing, but I will leave it here.
So, I hope this helps your English if you’ve been saying it wrong.




Ermmmm, one last thing before the final full stop: This is for people who can’t do without starting a sentence with or using “Am”; What exactly is wrong? Please stop making this horrible mistake, if you can’t use the contraction: “I’m…” then use: “I am…”
It’s not hard work. The pronoun I is just one letter.

Thanks for reading.

Veebliz.

nice write-up

Timijo:
This is for those who are fond of saying: WHO ENGLISH HELP?
As for me, English has helped me in many ways. I studied Science Education but I developed my English skills to an expert level. So, any time you ask this question: "Who English help?" Remember that it has helped timijo.

I have a lot to talk about but I will make my testimony brief.

1. I was teaching science subjects in a school that paid #14,000 as monthly salary but my English skills got me another teaching job in an international school with a starting salary of #42,000. I got a lot of experience in this school through international training and online courses. Courses that I would have paid a huge amount of money were made available for free. Before I resigned, my monthly salary was over #100,000.

2. In addition to what I have achieved from learning English, it has given me the opportunity to work as an English teacher outside Nigeria. Yes, you may be surprised but that is the truth. I am abroad teaching English.

Finally, I know that God helped me to be where I am today but I had worked on myself before He blessed me. So, you must have something to offer because faith without work is dead.
English language plus divine favour gave me two lucrative jobs.

your story is inspiring. We share the same spot for knowledge.

Daminovic:
your story is inspiring. pls how can i through to you. I'm interested in learning English.

Answer these questions:
WWWH
1. Why do you want to learn English?
2. What aspect of English do you want to learn?
3. When do you want to start?
4. How?

Timijo:
Answer these questions:
WWWH
1. Why do you want to learn English?
2. What aspect of English do you want to learn?
3. When do you want to start?
4. How?

i will make it short.

1. To improve my oratory skills and impeded-writing skills.
2. I'm very greedy when it comes to knowledge and i won't hesitate to learn any as aspect as much possible.
3. Any part excluding part of speech
4. maybe through textbooks or you.

Veebliz:
Here's my WhatsApp number: +2348066222055. Hit me up, please.

does she have or does she has which is correct?

placeofallure:
The choice of articles to use depends on the letters which begin the word.

We have Definite Article (The) and the Indefinite Article (A, An)

We use ''a' for words beginning with a consonant - b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,z
We can say: a bag, a computer, a table etc.

We also use 'a' for vowels which sound like consonants. E.g. a union, a European, a uniform etc

We use 'an' for vowels -a,e,I,o,u
We can say: an egg, an orange, an uncle etc

We can also use 'an' for the letter 'h' when it is silent.
Now, in all of the English language vocabulary, we have only 4 words with the silent 'h' They are: an hour, an honour, an honest...boy, man or woman, an heir.

Therefore it's incorrect to say: an hospital, an happy ....., an habit etc.

Concerning the SOS part, you're correct the letter 'S' has a vowel sound because you are spelling the Acronym, something like: Es...O...Es. imagine you want to say the word 'estate' The correct thing to say of course is an SOS.

I hope this helps. Thanks.

but an is sometimes used for herb.

Veebliz:
Some grammatical mistakes you make and things you say wrong.


Hello, everyone. Before I shoot, I’d like you to read this:

After learning some Spanish and having to correct a lot of English in WhatsApp groups, I’ve discovered that some of us say some things wrong. Some like saying things like “English is not our language”, “Who English epp? (Who does English help?)” “Does it add money to my account?” especially when you correct them. But most of these are said out of ignorance. English is not your language, but why do you use it? English has helped a lot of people, YES! It has. Why else do we use English to teach at school? In fact, more research has been done in English than in any other language, 98% of scientific materials published today are in English, I’m not saying that other languages are inferior, but the truth is that, some people do need to stop being ignorant and face it – English really DOES matter…and YES – it can add money to your account in so many ways; you think about it.

Yeah, I feel like it’s important for me to add this: I’ve come across some Nigerians who speak English as their first tongue; I do as well, so the idea of saying English is not our language doesn’t make any sense at all. I have no problem with anybody speaking any indigenous language.

The English language is not a foreign language to Nigeria, it has mixed with our cultures in a unique way, and therefore has become ours – one of our languages, even though I don’t speak the language of my indigenous tribe, I still have some of their cultural values instilled in me, I cherish and respect them.

Aha! I must not skip this; I've interacted with Brits and Americans on the internet, so I see them make silly mistakes as well, but the ones I've written here are some of the mistakes I see my country people make often. Let’s see some of the grammatical mistakes people make and things they say wrong.

1) The verb – to make;

Of course, you would have definitely seen some people make mistakes with this verb, it’s common to hear people say things like:
“This picture makes me TO remember my past.”
“Eating all the time will make you TO be fat.”
“If you use this medicine, it will make you TO sleep.”
I am sure you’ve already spotted the mistake, right? – Yeah, I made it obvious. The verb – to make doesn’t take “to” after it, so the correct thing to say in each sentence above is: “This picture makes me remember my past.”
“Eating all the time will make you (be) fat” – in this kind of sentence, it’s more common and therefore more natural to skip the verb – “be”.
“If you use this medicine, it will make you sleep.”
The only time it’s fine to use “TO” after the verb – to make is when it is in the passive; for example, “I was made TO kneel down yesterday at school.” NOT I was made kneel down yesterday at school.”


2) The verb – to enable;

This verb requires “to” after it, but it is so amusing that some people would leave out “to” using this verb but would use it with the verb “to make”.
Here is an example: “This software will enable you TO work on your computer efficiently.” NOT “This software will enable you work on your computer efficiently.”


3) The verb – to allow;

This verb also requires “to” after it.
Here is an example: “My parents will not allow me TO go out today.” NOT “My parents will not allow me go out today.”


4) The verb – to reply;

The mistakes made with this verb are pretty common, this verb is intransitive, which means it cannot go with a direct object, therefore, it needs a preposition for it to make sense, and therefore, you reply TO somebody or TO something. NOT reply somebody or something.
“Why didn’t you reply my messages?” is WRONG. The correct thing is: “Why didn’t you reply TO my messages?”


5) The idiom – to be about to do something;

Hahahaha , I remember hearing someone say: “I was just about asking same thing.” Well, the correct thing is: “I was just about TO ask you THE same thing.”


6) The noun – stuff;

Yeah! This particular noun is such a pain in the ass for some people, it is uncountable, so, it cannot take an S after it and an indefinite article can’t be used with it either.
“Please give me five minutes – I want to get my STUFF” NOT “Please give me five minutes – I want to get my stuffs”.
“Where did you get all this stuff?” NOT “Where did you get all these stuffs?”
“Where IS all my stuff?” NOT “Where are all my stuffs?”
“This is good stuff.” NOT “This is a good stuff.”
The only context where stuff can take an S is if it’s used as a verb: “Ade always stuffs himself with so much junk food.”


7) The nouns – slang and jargon;

English is weird, yeah…but it’s not hard. So many people make mistakes with these nouns - These nouns are uncountable – yeah you read it right; UNCOUNTABLE.
I remember reading an article sometime ago, it had: “20 slangs you will hear in Nigeria” as its title: If you’ve been reading this article carefully, you will have known what is wrong with the sentence.
Numbers can’t be used with uncountable nouns, so the correct thing is: “20 SLANG WORDS/EXPRESSIONS/TERMS you will hear in Nigeria”. Or simply put: “Some slang you will hear in Nigeria.” – So you can use “some” with uncountable nouns and countable nouns as well.
“That is internet slang.” NOT “That is an internet slang.”
“Too much slang was used in the movie.” NOT “Too many slangs were used in the movie.”
“His messages were full of jargon.” NOT “His messages were full of jargons.”


8 ) The noun – information;

I don’t need to explain this, just keep it in mind that it is UNCOUNTABLE.
“Thank you for that information.” NOT “Thank you for those informations”
“What a wonderful piece of information!” NOT “What a wonderful information!”
“I want to share some information with you.” NOT “I want to share you an information.”


9) The noun – advice;

This is uncountable as well: make sure you do not mistake it for the verb: advise. The noun is spelt with a C and the verb with an S.
“I need (some) advice from you.” NOT “I need some advices from you.” NOT “I need an advice from you.”


10) All what;

If you’ve been saying this, then you need to STOP saying it! This is WRONG! It should be either: “All (that)” or “All OF what”.
“All (that) I’ve been saying is that….” NOT “All what I’ve been saying is that…”


11) The noun – headache;

Just as people make mistakes with uncountable nouns, they also do the same thing with countable nouns – it’s very common to hear “I am having headache”. This sentence is wrong. It should be: “I have a headache.”


12) The noun – news;

This is an uncountable noun.
“This is good news!” NOT “This is a good news!”


13) The expression – in the twinkling of an eye;

I’ve heard and seen people say: “In the twinkle of an eye.” – This is wrong of course: it should be: “In the twinkling of an eye.”


14) The famous – “I don’t get”.

Okay, I don’t want to be too annoying because I KNOW that some will get angry reading this article, but guess what? Learning never ends. We are used to saying this, but you should know that the verb – to get in this case is transitive, so it needs an object to sound okay.
So I recommend that you start saying: “I don’t get IT.”
Saying “I don’t get” has always sounded weird to me, I’ve asked some foreigners just to be sure it's not just me but they said it sounded weird to them as well.


15) The noun – furniture;

I usually see furniture makers put up a sign like “ABC furnitures.”
This doesn’t work in English; it’s an uncountable noun, so you already know the drill.
“They like playing with furniture.” NOT “They like playing with furnitures.”


I am Nigerian, so I speak more Nigerian English, I don’t hate it, I just like when people make good use of it because I know what it feels like when you murder someone's language. When I was in junior secondary school, I remember saying something wrong in Yoruba while I was playing with my friends, you needed to have seen how three of them were throwing corrections at me. (
There are so many people who care about mistakes – especially in English.
These are just a few of the mistakes. I could keep on writing and writing, but I will leave it here.
So, I hope this helps your English if you’ve been saying it wrong.




Ermmmm, one last thing before the final full stop: This is for people who can’t do without starting a sentence with or using “Am”; What exactly is wrong? Please stop making this horrible mistake, if you can’t use the contraction: “I’m…” then use: “I am…”
It’s not hard work. The pronoun I is just one letter.

Thanks for reading.

Veebliz.

what about these

"come on in" or "come in"

NYCnextStop:
does she have or does she has which is correct?

The only correct thing is: Does she have....
The auxiliary verb "do" has already been conjugated as "does", so the verb "have" cannot be conjugated.

xxxXXXxxx:
but an is sometimes used for herb.

The "h" in herb is not silent.

xxxXXXxxx:
what about these

"come on in" or "come in"

"Come in" is usually permission that is offered to someone who has asked for it especially by knocking.

"Come on in" is usually an invitation, especially an unsolicited one.

Sometimes, I use them in the same context, but "Come on in" may sound more emphatic than "come in".

Veebliz:
The only correct thing is: Does she have....
The auxiliary verb "do" has already been conjugated as "does", so the verb "have" cannot be conjugated.

alright. Thanks

Wow thanks for this....it helps

Me while you can also join our free online classes starting from monday on this forum


Join now now on

www.talkpalsforum.com

It is free

Veebliz:
It's: take an S.
So many people usually get confused when it comes to using the indefinite articles: "a" and "an". I have seen people who think that the indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a consonant letter and "an" before words that begin with a vowel letter. This is not true, of course. The indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a consonant sound. For example:

A university. NOT An university.
A unique way. NOT An unique way.
A usual thing, A European, A euphemism.

If you look at the adjectives and nouns above, you'll notice that they're spelt with vowels, but when you sound them out, you get a Y sound, which is a consonant sound.

The indefinite article "an" is used with words that begin with a vowel sound.

An example ✓

So you would say: The word - search begins with an S. The S is a letter that has its own pronunciation - it's pronounced "es". Try sounding out all the letters of the English alphabet and you can easily know which article to use.


Some people do also get confused about words that begin with an H. The H can be either pronounced or silent.
This is a happy person. ✓
This is an happy person. ×
It will take an hour. ✓
It will take a hour. ×
You're an honest person. ✓
That jam was a hit. ✓

We received an SOS from that area last week. ✓

We received a SOS from that area last week. ×

I will send you an SOS message. ✓

I will send you a SOS message. ×

I saw a UFO last week. ✓

I saw an UFO last week. ×

It's pretty easy. Just remember: it has to do with the sound.

Underrated.
Thumbs up.

Veebliz:
It's: take an S.
So many people usually get confused when it comes to using the indefinite articles: "a" and "an". I have seen people who think that the indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a consonant letter and "an" before words that begin with a vowel letter. This is not true, of course. The indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a consonant sound. For example:

A university. NOT An university.
A unique way. NOT An unique way.
A usual thing, A European, A euphemism.

If you look at the adjectives and nouns above, you'll notice that they're spelt with vowels, but when you sound them out, you get a Y sound, which is a consonant sound.

The indefinite article "an" is used with words that begin with a vowel sound.

An example ✓

So you would say: The word - search begins with an S. The S is a letter that has its own pronunciation - it's pronounced "es". Try sounding out all the letters of the English alphabet and you can easily know which article to use.


Some people do also get confused about words that begin with an H. The H can be either pronounced or silent.
This is a happy person. ✓
This is an happy person. ×
It will take an hour. ✓
It will take a hour. ×
You're an honest person. ✓

Talk more on “Maybe” and “May be”

NYCnextStop:
Talk more on “Maybe” and “May be”

"Maybe" is just an adverb which is synonymous with "perhaps". "May be" is just the modal verb "may" and the auxiliary verb "(to) be".

MAYBE.

I go there maybe once or twice a month.
Maybe you shouldn't worry.
Maybe he will tell him, maybe he won't, no one knows.


MAY BE.
You may be lucky if you go there early.
This may be an entirely different thing.
This may not really be what you're looking for.

Most of the time, but NOT always, the modal verbs "may" and "might" are interchangeable, and as such, "might" can also work in the sentences above.