Articles A and An - skoolon.com - Free Printable

Here is the completed worksheet with the correct articles 'a' or 'an' filled in, followed by a clear explanation of the rule.

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✔ Correct Answers:

1) an engine
2) a pencil
3) an insect
4) a mask
5) an inkpot
6) a computer
7) an owl
8) an ear
9) an umbrella
10) a boat
11) a table
12) an oar
13) a telephone
14) an envelop
15) a train
16) a worm
17) an elephant
18) an eye
19) an ox
20) a yacht

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📘 Explanation: The Rule for 'A' vs. 'An'

We use:
- "a" before words that start with a consonant sound.
- "an" before words that start with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

⚠️ Important: It’s about the SOUND, not just the letter!

Let’s break down some tricky ones:

- “an engine” → “engine” starts with ‘e’ (vowel letter) → vowel sound → an
- “a pencil” → “pencil” starts with ‘p’ (consonant letter) → consonant sound → a
- “an inkpot” → “inkpot” starts with ‘i’ → vowel sound → an
- “a computer” → ‘c’ sounds like /k/ → consonant sound → a
- “an owl” → ‘o’ = vowel sound → an
- “an ear” → ‘e’ = vowel sound → an
- “an umbrella” → ‘u’ here sounds like /ʌ/ (as in “up”) — still a vowel sound → an
- “a boat” → ‘b’ = consonant sound → a
- “a table” → ‘t’ = consonant → a
- “an oar” → ‘o’ = vowel sound → an
- “a telephone” → ‘t’ = consonant → a
- “an envelop” → ‘e’ = vowel sound → an
- “a train” → ‘t’ = consonant → a
- “a worm” → ‘w’ = consonant sound → a
- “an elephant” → ‘e’ = vowel sound → an
- “an eye” → ‘e’ = vowel sound → an
- “an ox” → ‘o’ = vowel sound → an
- “a yacht” → ‘y’ here sounds like /j/ (as in “yes”) — this is a consonant sound → a

💡 Tip for “yacht”: Even though it starts with ‘y’, it’s pronounced /jɒt/ — the first sound is /j/, which is a consonant. So we use “a”.

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📌 Summary Rule for Grade 1 Students:

> Use “an” if the word starts with A, E, I, O, U sound.
> Use “a” if it starts with any other sound (like B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z — but watch out for Y!).

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✔ All answers are now correctly filled based on English grammar rules for articles. Great job practicing! 🎉