既然又说到 phonics, 就顺便再把单词前 a / an的用法也一起说一说。
在单词前用 a / an 的规则大家都很清楚。 在辅音前用 a, 在元音前用an.
有些学校学的是国际音标, 经常会考学生在什么单词前用a,
在什么单词前用an. 是元音还是辅音, 不是看字母, 而是看字母的读音的音标。
对于没学音标, 只学phonics 的孩子, 可以记住下面几条规则:
"A" goes before all words that begin
with consonants.
* a cat
* a dog
* a purple onion
* a buffalo
* a big apple
With one exception: Use "an" before
unsounded h.
* an honorable peace
* an honest error
"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels:
* an apricot
* an egg
* an Indian
* an orbit
* an uprising
With two exceptions: When u makes the
same sound as the y in you, or o makes the same sound as w in won,
then a is used.
* a union
* a united front
* a unicorn
* a used napkin
* a U.S. ship
* a European
* a one-legged man
对于a or an before Abbreviations 记住
vowel-sounding letters (take "an"):A E F H I L M N O R S X
当它们念做字母时, 用an, 念做单词时, 根据单词读音选择.
an NBC spokesman (N-B-C 一个一个字母读出来)
a NY spokesman(NY 读成New York)
a NASA science lab (NASA 读的时候合成一个新单词)
a FAQ
其实记住这些vowel-sounding letters很容易, A E I O
四个元音字母, 加上R, 其他的几个字母F H L M N S
X在读的时候都有一个共同的开头音节在里面。