AEE 2349: Should You Use the Article or the Number in English?

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: Episode 2349 – Should You Use the Article or the Number in English?

Release Date: January 30, 2025

In Episode 2349 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into a common grammatical dilemma faced by English learners: when to use the indefinite articles "a" or "an" versus the number "one." This episode is particularly valuable for intermediate to advanced ESL learners aiming to enhance their fluency and natural usage of American English.

Understanding the Difference: Articles vs. Numbers

Lindsay opens the discussion by highlighting a recurring issue she encounters in professional communication. She shares an example where a colleague consistently requests, “Please send me one invoice for payment,” instead of the more natural, “Please send me an invoice for payment” ([04:13]). This mistake often stems from direct translations from other languages, such as Italian or Spanish, where numeric specificity might be more prevalent.

Michelle elaborates on the overarching principle: "If the number is important, use 'one.' If the number isn’t important, use 'a' or 'an'" ([12:28]). This fundamental rule underpins most of their analysis, emphasizing that the choice between articles and numbers hinges on whether the speaker intends to highlight the quantity or simply refer to an item in a general sense.

Practical Examples and Common Mistakes

The hosts explore several practical examples to illustrate the distinction:

1. Coffee Orders:

   • Incorrect: "Would you like one coffee today?"
   • Correct: "Would you like a coffee today?"
     Lindsay explains that saying "one coffee" in casual settings, like ordering at a café, can come off as unnecessarily specific or mechanical ([06:07]).

2. Email Communication:

   • Incorrect: "Please send me one email."
   • Correct: "Please send me an email."
     Michelle points out that using "one" implies a scenario where multiple emails might be involved, which can lead to confusion ([08:34]).

3. Making Friends:

   • Incorrect: "I made one new friend."
   • Correct: "I made a new friend."
     Here, "one" might suggest a limited number of friendships, potentially conveying unintended emotional undertones ([09:39]).

4. Seconds and Patience:

   • Incorrect: "Can you give me a second?"
   • Correct: "Can you give me one second?"
     While both are grammatically correct, "one second" can express impatience or urgency more effectively ([11:59]).

Role-Play Scenario: Coffee Shop Dialogue

To bring these concepts to life, Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role-play set in a coffee shop:

• Lindsay: "Do you want me to grab you something?"
• Michelle: "Sure, I'll have a latte."
• Lindsay: "Do you want one sugar or two?"
• Michelle: "I'll just have one sugar."

This dialogue, timestamped around [13:00], demonstrates the natural flow of conversation using articles and numbers appropriately. Lindsay highlights that saying "I'll have a latte" is more fluid and natural compared to "I'll have one latte," which would be awkward in this context. Conversely, specifying "one sugar or two" is necessary when the quantity directly affects the order.

Key Takeaways

Throughout the episode, the primary takeaway emphasized by both hosts is to assess the importance of the number in your statement. If the quantity adds meaningful information or clarifies your intent, using "one" is appropriate. Otherwise, defaulting to "a" or "an" fosters more natural and fluent communication.

As Lindsay succinctly puts it, “Does the number matter or not? That's the answer” ([17:21]). This simple yet profound guideline serves as a valuable tool for ESL learners striving to achieve conversational ease and precision in English.

Final Thoughts

Lindsay and Michelle wrap up the episode by reaffirming the significance of connection over perfection in language learning. They encourage listeners to practice discerning when to use articles versus numbers to enhance both their grammatical accuracy and conversational comfort.

For listeners eager to reinforce these concepts, the hosts recommend revisiting previous episodes, such as Episode 2343 on effective English phrases, to continually build upon their language skills.

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By focusing on practical examples and interactive dialogue, Episode 2349 offers a comprehensive exploration of article and number usage in English, equipping learners with the knowledge to make more informed and natural language choices.

Transcript

[A]

This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2349. Should you use the article or the number in English?

[B]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl coming to you from Colorado and New York City, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your 7 day free trial at allearsenglish.com/forward/app.

[C]

Would you like a coffee or one coffee today? Learn about a common mistake that you might be making if you are translating from your native language and how to fix it immediately for more connection. The most frustrating thing about learning a language is not being able to be yourself, whether it's at work or at a party. In English, the best thing about learning a language is human connection. And that's what you get when you focus on a clear study plan. Join our B2C1 Fluency Bundle, available this week only and set yourself up for success in 2025. Plus get weekly speaking opportunities. Go to allearsenglish.com bundle and save up to 200 off the normal price. The offer ends February 2nd at MIDN. Then you have to buy the courses separately. Go to allearsenglish.com bundle that's allearsenglish.com b u n D L E.

[A]

Hello, Michelle. How's it going today?

[B]

Good.

[C]

Lindsay. Lindsay, I have a question for you.

[A]

Okay, I'm ready.

[C]

Okay. So what made you decide to get one dog?

[A]

Don't you mean a dog to get a dog? What made me decide to get a dog?

[C]

Oh, yeah, sorry. Sorry about that. Yes. To get a dog.

[A]

Correcting you live on the spot here, Michelle. Yeah, I mean that would be actually a different question, wouldn't it, Michelle? Because that would mean I was debating between two dogs.

[C]

One or two.

[A]

Just one dog. So, you know, which question were you asking is my question.

[C]

I was asking. I, I, it was a mistake. I meant to ask why. What made you just. What made you decide to get a dog?

[A]

Yeah, it's true. Yes. Oh, what made. Well, I can answer that. It just.

[C]

Sure.

[A]

Like what was the pandemic? You know, the pandemic had just hit. It was April of 20 me and we just said, hey, it's now or never. We're going to be working from home until eternity. And so we have time to raise a puppy is, you know, if you adopt a puppy, you have to be home to raise it. Otherwise you have a nightmare for 10 years. And we were home, so we said, this is the time. Let's do it. Yeah.

[C]

Nice. And I know you've been happy with Kiefer ever since.

[A]

Oh, he's fantastic. Are you all going to get a dog at some point? You think you're going to add a dog to your family?

[C]

At some point? When my kids are just a little bit older right now, I think my son could be good with a dog, but I think I'm too nervous with the little one around dogs right now.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. So what are we talking about today, Michelle?

[C]

Okay, so it goes back to this mistake I made in the beginning. So we're going to talk because this is a pretty common one. Lindsay, you actually chose. You actually came up with this topic, right? Because it's something you see frequently.

[A]

Yeah, I email with a provider, just a partner in Italy, and I often get an email from him and he'll say, can you please send me one invoice for payment? And I. Every month it's the same. It's the same mistake. And every month I say, we need to fix that. I thought this would be a great topic for today's episode.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And what should he say instead of please send me one invoice for payment.

[C]

Right. Probably say, please send me an invoice or please generate an invoice. Right?

[A]

Yes, exactly. Because it was never a debate between one invoice, two invoices.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Five invoices. No, it's about an invoice. Please send me an invoice for payment. So this is what we're getting into today.

[C]

Yeah, this is an interesting idea. This is very important. So. Because even though. Yeah, it. It actually can impact meaning it can kind of. To me, if you're listening to that, and I say, like, when I said, what made you decide to get one dog? It kind of feels like, wait, what? Wait, you know, it. It makes things a little bit confusing. So it's. This is really huge to cover. I'm glad that you brought this to us today.

[A]

Yeah, this is a good one. So let's break it down. Michelle. What. Let's go into the details of what we need to know. How do we know first? Before we do that, though, let's remind our listeners to hit the follow button. Guys, go ahead and hit follow right here on Allers English. It's the beginning of the year. It's a Great time to get allers English into your daily routine. That's how we build connection and fluency. All right.

[C]

That's right, Absolutely. So what's going on here? So a and an, they mean one, so. Yeah, I wonder why we have to talk about the. Why you would choose a or and over one or the other. So.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

So because one means number one, and so does a and. And so let's talk about which we would choose. How do we know? So what about a or an?

[A]

Yeah, well, I think generally when you're talking about or choosing a or an, first of all, it's way more common. Right. So 95 of the time you're going to say a or an. And that's kind of the problem. I'm seeing. I'm seeing people just swapping in one instead of arn. It may be a translation from Italian. From Spanish. I have a feeling it is.

[C]

Could be that.

[A]

So it's more general. And we're just talking about getting a dog, right? Not. Not the number of dogs. Getting a dog.

[C]

Okay, Right, right. Whereas one, that's a number. Right. So here, right here, we're using this more to actually emphasize the number. Either it's important. Here's this number. Or you want to emphasize that you're not talking about another number. Like we were talking about, like one dog, not two dogs. Right. Or just the number is very important. So if the number isn't that important, I would say mostly stick with a or an. What do you think?

[A]

100%. Yeah, I mean, that. That's really the essence of, of the, of the mistake that we're seeing. And the solution. Right. If the number doesn't matter, use a or an. And that means 95% of the time you're using a or an. Okay, because we're usually talking about a thing, not a number of things or how many things. Right, right, right. Okay.

[C]

So let's go through some examples and see how this works.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So I need a coffee versus I need one coffee. So how sound so. Well, of course, it's really a cup of coffee. Right. But we say very, very commonly we say, I need a coffee.

[A]

Yeah, no, that's true. So you might see someone wake up, maybe you're hosting a guest for the week or something, a house guest. They come down and they say, oh, I need a. They would not say, I need one coffee. No, it's. It's because they're saying it. They're rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. You know, they're, you know, stretching their arms Oh, I need a coffee. You would never say I need one coffee that casually, that broadly.

[C]

Right, right, right. So that's more general. And the second one sounds like. If you say, I need one coffee, it sounds almost like you're giving a list of things that you need. Maybe you're. Maybe you are at the talking with a barista and you say, okay, I need one coffee. Two. Two breakfast sandwiches, blah, blah, blah.

[A]

Yes, exactly. Right. You walk into your cafe and you say, oh, I need one coffee. Exactly. You make a list. How many coffees do we need? Maybe you're bringing coffee back to your workplace at the office and you're putting it in those Styrofoam, that, that carrier thing. Right. I need one coffee. I need three coffees. Very different conversation. All right.

[C]

Exactly, exactly. So what about the next example? You want to start us off on that?

[A]

Yeah. We could say, please send the information in an email versus please send the information in one email. Now, what do we need to know here, Michelle?

[C]

Same idea. The first one is more general, but the second one sounds. Maybe the person sent it in two emails or is confused. Right. So maybe I sent you some. You asked me for some information, and I just. I. I was sending it in a couple different emails and it was getting a little disorganized. You might say, michelle, can you just send it to me in one email?

[A]

Yeah, totally. I mean, this is an internal conversation we might have at our work. I know when we first started Dollars English, my original co founders, you know, we were starting to send emails with a thousand items in the same email. And she said, hey, just send one email per topic and have the subject line be that topic. So we can. Because we use our emails kind of as an index. Right. To find everything later. And so that, you know, that would be where the conversation of one email versus multiple emails would come in. But if you're just saying, hey, send me an email next week when you get back to work, you're not going to say, send me one email next week.

[C]

Right, exactly. So. Or one more example here before we take a break is I made a new friend versus I made one new friend.

[B]

Aha.

[A]

Very different. What's the difference there, Michelle?

[C]

So first one is more general. The second one sounds almost like maybe you're. The number is important. Either you're proud you made one new friend, like I made one new friend already. Right. I don't know. It's just important. Or maybe you're complaining you haven't met more friends. So I've only met. Made One new friend.

[A]

Yes. I like what you're saying. The number is important, right? Either you're happy about that number or you're unhappy about that number. But you're highlighting that number versus with the first one I made a new friend. You're highlighting the word friend.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

Matters, right?

[C]

Good point. Good point. Yes.

[B]

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[A]

Okay, Michelle, we have one more example. This one's a common phrase. Can you give me a second? Can you give me a second?

[C]

Versus can you give me one second?

[A]

Okay, what do we feel about the difference here?

[C]

To me, it can be. I mean, it could be both. Can you give me one second? But again, the number is more important. And also to me, the second example with 1 second sounds almost like maybe that person is being impatient and you're. You just really need us. Can you give me one second? Right, you're kind of emphasizing it.

[A]

Yeah, it might be the second time you're saying that. Right. They're being impatient. Oh, come on. Just one more second. Or one second. You might say two seconds in that case too, right?

[C]

Exactly. Exactly. So again, it's not that one is wrong, but it can make. It does make you sound more fluent and natural if you know the general differences. And I think we boiled it down to one. One main one today, which is. Is the number important? Because it can sound a little bit awkward, a little bit strange if you're using one when you don't need to 100.

[A]

100. And this is it. So should we go through a role play, Michelle, and show our listeners how it's done?

[C]

Let's do it.

[A]

All right. So here we are, friends at a coffee shop. Lovely. All right, here we go. So do you want me to grab you something?

[C]

Sure, I'll have a latte.

[A]

Okay. Do you want one sugar or two?

[C]

I'll just have one sugar.

[A]

Okay. Oh, there's a line.

[C]

Oh, I only see one person.

[A]

Oh, no, look over there. There's a long line.

[C]

Oh, ouch.

[A]

Ouch. I think we've done an episode before, Michelle, about ouch, haven't we? I think so, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay, great. So let's break this down and see where we used or Ann, and where we used one or more than one. Right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So first you said, sure, I'll have a latte. And why didn't you say, I'll have one latte?

[C]

Because it would be a little overkill, don't you think? I was like, one latte. You're not really giving a list here. It's not. It's kind of assumed that you're just getting one drink for yourself.

[A]

Yeah. And you're not. You're not like, behind the bar, taking orders, taking a list for the office, Right? One latte, one cappuccino, one decaf espresso. Right. No, you're just saying to your friend, I'll have a latte. Right. So. Right. So in that case, you cannot say one. Doesn't make any sense. Yes.

[C]

No. Okay. And then you said, okay, do you want one sugar or two? So why didn't you say, do you want a sugar or two?

[A]

Oh, that would be strange if I said, do you want a sugar or two? Because now we're counting. Now the number does matter. So I have to say the number. Right. Do you want one sugar or two or three? Right. Not a sugar. We don't say, do you want a sugar? Do you want sugar? We would drop the A in that case.

[C]

Yes, exactly. So, and then I said, I'll just have one sugar. And I'm just mirroring what you said. Right. And I mean. Yeah, If I just said, I'll just have. Oh, wait, just to make it clear, we mean maybe like a packet of sugar.

[A]

Yeah, to make it.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. That's important because sometimes you get the big thing. Like if you go to a diner, you get the big glass thing that you pour in.

[C]

Right.

[A]

In that case, we're not really counting. You would just say, do I? Can I have some Sugar. Or is there sugar? But when you're getting little packets that you, as my friend, are going to bring over to the table, it's about counting.

[C]

Yeah, love that. Exactly. And then I just realized I didn't bold one. So what's the next one? Lindsay, you said. Okay.

[A]

Oh, there's, there's a line, right? Not one line. There's a line, right? Oh, there's a line. And here it's clear, right? We're not counting lines. Okay, there's a line. It's there.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And then you say, oh, no, I.

[B]

Only see one person.

[C]

Right. So here the number is important because I wouldn't say, oh, I only see a person. It's not specific enough. I'm, I'm looking over here. I see I only see one person. Because you're saying, oh, there's a line. I said I only see one person. What are you talking about?

[A]

Exactly. And then you said, don't look over there. There's a long line. Right. Or I said that there's a long line. Yeah. Interesting. This is a great example of where we're going back and forth the entire time between the number mattering and the number not mattering. It's the thing that you're talking about. Michelle, what's your drink of choice these days? What's your coffee drink of choice? What do you typically order? What do you drink?

[C]

I typically, I typically order regular coffee with a little bit of half and half and then with, if I'm somewhere that maybe has sugar free something, I'll have a sugar free vanilla or something like that.

[A]

Nice. Sounds good.

[C]

But then I like, if I'm out, I like to have a little bit of cinnamon on it too.

[A]

Oh, fancy.

[C]

Yeah. But sometimes I don't get, sometimes I don't get the syrup in it. It depends on my food.

[A]

Yeah, totally.

[C]

Oh, you're just black coffee.

[A]

Well, actually, so I switched over to decaf now. So I drink decaf at home.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I, I, who are you? Who am I? I know, it's crazy. And then when I go out, I sometimes will have like a decaf espresso or I'll have a regular coffee, but then I'll be wired you so it's like not good. And then on the weekends, I like a good cappuccino. A little cappuccino. So yay. We all have our drinks of choice. Which, by the way, is a great conversation starter for our listeners.

[C]

For sure.

[A]

There you go. Where else should we go to find a great episode, A great recent episode.

[C]

Okay. So speaking of numbers, go to episode 2343. How to say that two people don't mix well in English.

[A]

All right, and what's our takeaway for today, Michelle? Where should we leave our listeners?

[C]

I think the takeaway is, think about it. Is the number important? Is the number not important?

[A]

That's it.

[C]

That's, that's really the biggest thing to take away from today. Generally go with a or an unless the number is important.

[A]

So don't you love it when an episode comes down to 1, 1 sentence, 1 key point. Does the number matter or not? That's the answer. And of course, the most important thing is the connection, as we know. But sometimes we can confuse people. Like you would have confused me, Michelle, the top of the show with the dog question. I thought you were asking a completely different question. Right. So to have that connection moment, we need to make sure people know what we're asking them, what we're saying.

[C]

Exactly. Exactly. Oh, well, I'm glad that you brought this topic to us today, Lindsay. This was a fun one and also very important. So I think that our listeners are going to get a lot of use out of this episode.

[A]

All right, sounds great, Michelle. I'll see you next time.

[C]

All right, bye, Lindsay.

[A]

Bye.

[B]

Thanks for listening to Allears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our 2 minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.