When to Use ‘Some’ and Not ‘A’ or ‘An’

On this program, you have learned about count and noncount nouns.

(If you need to review that point, please see our article, Understanding Noncount Nouns.)

A count noun is something you can count and make plural¹, as in "two trees," "five girls" and so on. Noncount nouns are grammatically singular. For example, "rice" is noncount, but it is made up of many small pieces. You can count glasses of water but you would not normally count "waters" unless you are talking about the many kinds of water on sale in some markets.

Count nouns and some

We can count "songs" but not "music" so "song" is a count noun while "music" is a noncount noun.

John wrote two songs last week.

His band plays New Age music.

With the singular form of count nouns, we use "a" before a word that begins with a consonant² sound and "an" before a word that begins with a vowel³ sound. There are exceptions, but this rule usually holds true. Here are examples:

They have an office on the first floor.

I left a banana on the table for you.

With the plural form of count nouns, we can use "some" instead of "a" or "an."

Some businesses have closed on my street.

I gave her some apples to take to her mother.

Noncount nouns and some

Now, let us turn to the question of noncount nouns. Can we use "a" or "an" or must we use "some?" Consider these examples:

You should come inside - there is some bad weather coming.

The children asked for some money to buy books.

We would not say "a weather" or "a money." The word "some" is an adjective meaning an unspecified amount, so it goes well with noncount nouns. Of course, you need not use an adjective or an article with plural nouns.

It is interesting to compare the count and noncount nouns for related ideas, like letter – a count noun – and mail, a noncount noun:

Sandy found a letter from her sister when she pulled some mail out of the box.

Another pair of such related words is cloud – a count noun – and weather, a noncount noun.

There is not a cloud in the sky, so we should have some dry weather for the party.

And every workday here at Learning English, we write a story – count noun – for you about the latest news – a noncount noun:

The editor asked me to write a story about some news from Asia.

To sum up, you can use "a" or "an" before singular count nouns, and "some" before plural count nouns and any noncount nouns.

And that's Everyday Grammar!

I'm Jill Robbins.

Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. Caty Weaver⁴ was the editor.

Here are some sentences for you to complete with a, an, or some. Write your answers in the comments.

There are ______ dark clouds in the sky.

You can buy _____ desk at ______ furniture stores.

I gave her ___ coins for the machine.

Bring back ________ change from the money I gave you.

Let's sit outside for ___ minute and enjoy _____ sunshine.

Words in This Story

plural – adj. grammar: relating to a form of a word that refers to more than one person or thing

consonant - n. a speech sound (such as /p/, /d/, or /s/) that is made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air breathed out from the mouth

vowel – n. a speech sound made with your mouth open and your tongue in the middle of your mouth not touching⁵ your teeth, lips, etc.

editor – n. the person at a media company who prepares (something written) to be published or used

specify⁶ – v. to name or mention (someone or something) exactly and clearly; or to be specific about (something)

sum up – v. to tell (information) again using fewer words

1 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

2 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

3 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

4 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

5 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

6 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。