ARTICLES
1.Yesterday we met a European who was a University Professor. (why not an instead of a)
2. A union of domestic servants was formed in Delhi. (why not an instead of a)
3. The proposal of the Managing Director was accepted by aunanimous vote. (why not the instead of a)
4. Is he an heir to the throne? (why an instead of a)
Dear Student,
There are simple rules for understanding the usage of articles.
i) A and an: The correct usage depends on the initial sound of the word and not on the initial letter of the word that they precede.
Examples:
| Consonant sound | a book, a toy |
| Consonant sound | a university, a unit, a horse, a historic event |
| Vowel sound | an orange, an arc, an ice cream, an elephant |
| Vowel sound | an honest man, an honour, an umbrella, an ugly man, |
ii) The : This article is used when a specific or particular thing is being referred to.
Examples:
a) He went to a school.
b) He went to the school.
Sentence (a) refers to the boy who went to some school.
Sentence (b) refers to the boy who went to a particular school.
Based on this explanation, "a University", "A union" and "a heir" (usage of article in the fourth sentence is wrong) are correct.
"Unanimous" is a non specific word. Thus, "a" will precede "unanimous".
Hope this will help you understand the concept clearly!