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English: A vs. An

365 points · 529 comments · azhenley

  1. abraxas · · focus · HN ↗
    What gets me as a non-native speaker far more than "a vs an" is the "a vs the" conundrum. I still don't quite get when something needs to be "indefinite" and I've been speaking English for close to forty years. My native tongue lacks articles altogether and it's soo bloody hard I feel hopeless I'll ever master them fully.
    1. berekuk · · focus · HN ↗
      Same here. Every few years I try to go through <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;englishpage.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;index.htm" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;englishpage.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;index.htm to internalize more rules but it doesn&#x27;t fully stick, and it&#x27;s the only part of English that makes me self-conscious.
      1. nutjob2 · · focus · HN ↗
        In programming terms &#x27;a&#x27; is followed by a type name and &#x27;the&#x27; is followed by a variable name.
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