Unknown articles One And ONE pop up everywhere, introducing nouns of people, creatures, or things that are not identified or specified. We see and hear them in phrases like “desserts” and “essentials”. Native English speakers often don’t need to think at all: small words just slip off the tongue like an almost invisible thread linking more important lexical elements.
In a way, One And ONE is the same word. Both trace back to Old English ONEmeans “one” and both have functioned the same indefinite article since Middle English.
And yet, they appear in lightly different contexts.
Warning: this sequel might leave you a little hungry.
Templates determine which articles, One or ONE, is often used before a certain word based on phonetics, but patterns exist in writing as well as speech. When faced with a consonant, One used: “a pie”, “a slice of cake.” Before a vowel, ONE is the usual: “a giant piece of cake”, “a giant piece of cake appropriate.” But sometimes, typically in speech and more often in some dialects than others, One found before a vowel: “a ambrosial cake.”
This pattern also exists for consonants represented by a vowel letter: “effort to serve cake with one hand”, “unified effort to distribute cake fairly.” ONE sometimes used in such contexts, but now less so than before: “a unique opportunity to serve fair cakes.”
The letter H has historically inspired its own set of rules. When the word starting with H has the first syllable unstressed or only lightly stressed, both One And ONE are used: “a hilarious joke used to distract us during a horrifying cake heist.” However, this is less true than before; One is now a typical choice before words beginning with H regardless of their stress pattern. This is even true of the most famous examples: the word historic and its relationships. While “a historical cake heist” and “historical view of a cake theft” probably won’t get you criticized by readers/listeners, “one history” and “one history” are common. significantly more variable. Do with what you will do.
Also related to H: in King James Old Testament Version you will find ONE is also used before H in an stressed syllable: “an Huntress”, “an Hundred.” In modern speaking and writing, this is even rarer than the most tempting cake.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
