Articles: a or an?

English has two types of articles:

• the definite article 'the'
• the indefinite articles 'a' and 'an'.

The definite article 'the' is used wherever you use 'de' or 'het' in Dutch.
'The' can be used with both singular and plural.

Examples

• The apple, the apples
• The house, the houses
• The umbrella, the umbrellas

The article 'a' is used if the first letter of the word that follows is pronounced as a consonant;
if the first letter of the word that follows is pronounced as a vowel, you use 'an'.

Examples

• a house 
• a girl
• an apple 
• a unit 
• an hour
• a nice idea
• an excellent plan