英语讲义(7)不定冠词a/an的用法

前此说过了“定冠词的常见用法”，意犹未尽。本文就来谈谈不定冠词（indefinite articles） a/an 的用法。

　　不定冠词最基本的用途就是用来表示“一”这概念，如：

　　① A stitch in time saves nine.
　　 ② Jason is an internationally known scholar.

　　此外，a/an 还有下列 6 种用途：

　　㈠常和time、measurement等有关的名词连用，以表示“每—” 的概念，如：

　　③ I teach five days a week.
　　 ④ This type of vegetables is sold at one dollar a kilo.
　　 ⑤ My car usually runs sixty kilometres an hour.

　　㈡常和 hundred, thousand, dozen 以及数目及数量连用，如：

　　⑥ That factory turns out at least a hundred tyres a day.
　　 ⑦ Noel's monthly salary is a thousand dollars.
　　 ⑧ I have a number of sponsored students.
　　 ⑨ Mary has a lot of money.

　　㈢在“of / at”后面出现，以表示“同一类”这概念，如：

　　⑩ Birds of a feather flock together.
　　 11. Please come one at a time.
　　 12. Things of a kind come together, so do people of a mind.

　　㈣常在“rather, quite, many, half, what, such”等字后面出现，形成固定用法，如：

　　13. Tom is rather a fool.
　　 14. I think Chinese is quite a useful language.
　　 15. Many a student has asked that question.
　　 16. The visitor left half an hour ago.
　　 17. What a fine day it is!
　　 18. How can you say such a thing?

　　㈤用在“so, as, too, how 形容词”这些结构里，如：

　　19. We have not had so hot a day before.
　　 20. Susan is as clever a girl as Anna.
　　 21. That is too difficult a book for beginners.
　　 22. No one knew how serious a problem it was until later.

　　㈥出现在许多惯用语中，如：

　　23. Bob always has a bone to pick with others.
　　 24. Some students turned a deaf ear to the teacher's advice.
　　 25. All must learn a language with an eye to mastering it.
　　 26. I hope you will make an effort to attend the meeting punctually.
　　 27. Jason has an aversion to being idle.
　　 28. The news of Jack's sudden resignation came as a bolt from the blue.