inglese - numerals a/an and one

inglese - numerals a/an and one

Numerals present little difficulty

The same form is used for adjectives and pronouns

six hundred people bought tickets

hundred of tourists come to this museum

one/ones must be added if the numeral is followed by an adjective  alone

Have you got a big plate ?
no Would two small ones do ?

a/an and one  (adjective)

when conunting or measuring time distance weight etc. we can use either a/an or one for the singular:

a pound
one pound

Lesson cost a/one pound an hour

The an before hour in this last expression is not replaceable by one

But  in other types of statement a/an and one are not normally interchangeable because one + noun normally means one only/ not more  than one and a/an does not mean this :

A shotgun is no good (it is the wrong sort of thing)

One shotgun is no good (I need two or three )

Special use of one

1) one  (adjective/pronoun ) used with another /Others

one (boy) wanted to read another /Others wanted to watch tv

One day  ha wanted his lunch early another day he wanted it late.

2) one can be used before day week month year summer winter etc
or before the name  of the day  or month to denote a particular time  when something happened

one night the was a terrible storm

One winter the snow fell early

One day a telegram arrived

3) one day can also be used to mean "at some future date"

One day you'll be sorry you treated him so badly (some day would be possible)

a/an and one  (pronoun)

one is the pronoun equivalent of a/an

Did you get a ticket? yes I managed to get one

The plural of one used in this way is some

Did you buy grapers ? yes I brought some

contrast with

Did you hear the speech ? yes I heard it
Did you hear the speeches ? yes I heard them