ENGLISH
REFERENCE

a

adj.
Dialect Informal Slang

adj. Used before a singular noun to show you are talking about any one of something, not a specific one. You use 'a' before words that start with a consonant sound, like 'a cat' or 'a big umbrella'.

adj. The indefinite article, used before a singular countable noun that is non-specific or being introduced for the first time. It precedes words that begin with a consonant sound.


SIMPLE

He is reading a book in the park.

CONTEXTUAL

To open a bank account, you typically need a passport or some other form of identification.

COMPLEX

A commitment to scientific principles requires a willingness to abandon a cherished hypothesis when confronted with contradictory evidence.

Etymology 1

The letter name is from Middle English ā, from Old French, ultimately from Latin ā. Use of the Latin letter in (Old) English displaced the futhorc letter ᚪ (a) beginning in the 7th century, and partially also ᚫ (æ).

Etymology 2

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Germanic *ainaz Proto-West Germanic *ain Old English ān Middle English an Middle English a English a From Middle English a, an, from Old English ān (“one; a; lone; sole”). More at one. The "n" was gradually lost before consonants in almost all dialects by the 15th century. Cognate with Alemannic German a (“a, an”), East Franconian a (“a, an”).

Etymology 3

* From Middle English a, o, from Old English a-, an, on. * Unstressed form of on.

Etymology 4

From Middle English a, ha contraction of have, or haven.

Etymology 5

From Middle English a, a reduced form of he (“he”)/ha (“he”), heo (“she”)/ha (“she”), ha (“it”), and hie, hie (“they”).

Etymology 6

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English a From Middle English of, with apocope of the final f and vowel reduction.

Etymology 7

From Northern Middle English aw, alteration of all.

Etymology 8

Contraction of gonna, itself a reduction of going to; see Etymology 8 above (“to”).

Etymology 9

Contraction of and.

Etymology 10

Borrowed from Russian а (a).

Etymology 11

From the common method of counting semiquavers as "one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a" and so on.

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