The indefinite article, plurals and capital letters in English

El artculo indefinido, los plurales y las maysculas en ingls

The indefinite article

In English, the indefinite article (a/an) is used to name non specific objects or mention jobs, it
goes only before singular nouns. Which means that we have to be careful with the special
plurals (seen further). The use of either of them is defined by the sound, a before consonants
and an before vowels.
El artculo indefinido
En ingls, el artculo indefinido (a/an) se usa para nombrar objetos no especficos o indicar la
profesin, va delante de palabras singulares nicamente. Esto implica que hay que tener
mucho cuidado con los plurales especiales (ms adelante). El uso de uno u otro estar
determinado por el sonido, a antes de consonantes y an antes de vocales.
a
table, family, doctor, computer, pear,
teacher, ball, bottle, book, mobile phone,
watch, etc.

an
orange, apple, email, architect, enemy,
actor, entrepreneur, exit, etc.

Cuidado! Como ya se dijo, el uso de a o an est determinado por el sonido y no la primera

letra.
Watch out! As we said, the use of a or an is defined by the sound and not the first letter.
E.g.
Ej.
an hour
a house
a hospital
an umbrella
a university
Plurals
Plurals are formed by adding an s to a certain word (apple apples, desk desks, teacher
teachers). Nevertheless, there are some exceptions to this rule that we have to be aware of.
Los plurales
Los plurales en ingls se realizan aadiendo una s a la palabra en cuestin (apple apples,
desk desks, teacher teachers). No obstante, hay algunas excepciones a la regla que hay
que tener en cuenta.

If the word finishes in consonat + y, we change the y for ies:

E.g. university universities, library libraries, body bodies. but NOT: toy
toies (beacuse it finishes in vowel + y, therefore we only add the s toys, as boy
boys).
Si la palabra termina en consonate + y, se cambia la y por ies:

Ej. university universities, library libraries, body bodies. Pero NO: toy toies
(ya que termina en vocal + y, por lo tanto solo se le aade la s toys, como boy
boys).
If the word finshes in -s, -sh, -ch,-x,-o, we add es:
E. g. tomato tomatoes, watch watches, bus buses.
Si la palabra termina en -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -o, se le aade es:
Ej. tomato tomatoes, watch watches, bus buses.
If the word finishes in f or fe, we change the f or fe for ves:
E.g. scarf scarves, wife wives, life lives, etc.
Si la palabra termina en f o fe, se cambia la f o fe por ves:
Ej. scarf scarves, wife wives, life lives, etc.
There are special plurals which change completely like:
man men, woman women, child children, tooth teeth, foot feet, person
people, etc.
Existen plurales especiales que cambian por completo como:
man men, woman women, child children, tooth teeth, foot feet, person
people, etc.
Capital letters
We use capital letters whenever we have to fill a form, when starting a sentence, with the
pronoun I (always), with post codes and acronyms, names, titles like doctor or mister, days of
the week, months of the year, nationalities and languages, streets and avenues, cities and
countries and titles of books, films and newspapers.
Las maysculas
Se usan las maysculas cuando se tiene que llenar un formulario, al empezar una oracin, con
el pronombre I (siempre), con los cdigos postales y siglas, nombres propios, ttulos como
doctor o seor, das de la semana, meses del ao, nacionalidades e idiomas, calles y
avenidas, ciudades y pases y ttulos de libros, pelculas y peridicos.