each | an | one + SINGULAR NOUN – English Grammar Profiler

‘An’, ‘one’, and ‘each’ are all examples of determiners as they help to specify the noun in some way. Let’s explain the differences between them when used with singular nouns:

An: This is an indefinite article that is used before singular countable nouns that start with a vowel sound. It doesn’t specify which particular thing or person you are referring to. For example, in the sentence “I’ve got an idea”, ‘an’ is used because ‘idea’ starts with a vowel sound. It means you have a single idea, but it doesn’t specify what the idea is.
One: This is a number that refers to a single unit or thing. It is more specific than ‘an’ because it emphasizes singularity and can be used with any singular noun, regardless of whether it starts with a vowel or consonant. In the sentence “They are here for one reason”, ‘one’ is used to emphasize that there is only a single reason for their presence.
Each: This is used to refer to every one of two or more things or people, considered separately. It emphasizes individuality within a group. In the sentence “Each person gets a bottle of beer”, ‘each’ is used to indicate that every single person in the group will receive their own bottle of beer.

Profiling Research

In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 28 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined as:

increasing range of quantifying determiners with singular nouns (‘each’, ‘an’, ‘one’ and numbers)

Also note that, in the English Vocabulary Profile:

one day = A2 used to talk about something that happened in the past

one day/some day/one of these days = B1 at some time in the future

For example:

One day, I was outside the room

and suddenly her playing stopped.

listen

In the phrase “one day,” the word “one” is indeed a quantifying determiner. It specifies the quantity of the noun that follows it, which in this case is “day.” So “one” is determining that there is a single day being referred to. However, in this context, it’s used more as an idiomatic expression to mean “on a certain day” or “once upon a time,” rather than specifying a particular day.

The phrase “one day” is an adverbial phrase of time. It tells us when the action of the sentence took place. In this case, it’s not specifying a particular day, but rather it’s used to indicate that the event happened at an unspecified time in the past. The comma after “one day” is used to separate this introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence. This is a common structure in English to start a narrative or story about something that happened in the past.

One day, another pandemic will sweep the globe.

TED

And maybe one day I will be sadder and I will be less optimistic,

but someone else will bring that hope to me.

TED

So for example,

many people share with me this wish,

that some day a more advanced version of Siri,

the digital assistant on Apple‘s iPhone,

will be more like a best friend,

someone who will listen when others won’t.

TED

Even though he lost last night,

he‘ll win one of these days.

TED

A search in iWeb corpus for:

each|an|one _NN1

1 ONE THING 587964 2 AN EXAMPLE 440517 3 AN OPPORTUNITY 390589 4 AN EMAIL 364587

5 AN ISSUE 358269

6 AN AREA 254162

PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE:

Earthquakes destroy everything in an area and stir up dust from the destruction.

Female, Level 3, Writing class

7 AN OPTION 253985
8 AN IDEA 247591

A: I‘ve got an idea.
B: What?

listen

9 ONE WAY 245613

I like to know what the people think,

their feelings and their frustrations,

or why they act in one way instead of another one.

Spanish, Male, Level 4, Reading class

EXPERT EXAMPLE (B2 phrase)

You won’t convince him one way or the other.

listen

10 AN INCREASE 222948 11 AN INTERVIEW 217759

12 ONE SIDE 216577

13 AN EYE 215361 14 AN IMAGE 198147 15 AN EVENT 196983 16 AN APPLICATION 193672 17 ONE PERSON 192137 18 AN END 190066 19 AN EFFORT 181549 20 AN ARTICLE 180031 21 AN ACCOUNT 171451 22 AN ATTEMPT 170235 23 AN EMPLOYEE 167941

24 AN ORDER 167392

25 AN AVERAGE 161468

26 ONE POINT 161139

27 AN ERROR 158257 28 AN EMERGENCY 154446 29 AN INDIVIDUAL 151132 30 AN ORGANIZATION 145635 31 AN EXPERT 144135 32 AN OBJECT 140566 33 AN ARRAY 138671 34 AN ADULT 135645 35 ONE HAND 131772 36 AN ITEM 126080 37 AN IMPACT 119928

38 AN APPOINTMENT 119219

39 AN INTEREST 119058 40 ONE PLACE 117815 41 AN UNDERSTANDING 114049 42 AN APP 110073 43 AN AGREEMENT 108861

44 AN ANSWER 105781

45 EACH SIDE 105501

Therefore, there are differences in preferences,

especially in this regard

and each side has their own reasons.

Arabic, Male, level 5, writing class

46 AN UPDATE 105045
47 AN ARTIST 104901
48 AN ACCIDENT 103605 49 AN OVERVIEW 103072 50 AN INVESTMENT 99053 51 AN ALTERNATIVE 96291 52 AN EXTENSION 95181 53 AN ACTION 93858 54 AN ACT 92554 55 AN ENVIRONMENT 92188

56 AN AIR 88911

57 AN OFFICE 88522
58 ONE REASON 86596

They are here for one reason and one reason only.

listen

59 AN ANIMAL 85862
60 AN OFFER 84501
61 AN ART 82144 62 AN INDUSTRY 81796 63 ONE STEP 81525 64 AN ATTACK 80984 65 AN INVESTIGATION 80420

66 EACH PERSON 79964

Also, each person is to get a bottle of vodka.

listen

67 AN INTRODUCTION 78767 68 ONE END 77489

69 ONE PIECE 76249

70 AN AUDIENCE 75683 71 AN ARGUMENT 75352 72 AN EMPLOYER 74843 73 AN ATTORNEY 73891 74 AN EXPERIENCE 73194 75 ONE MAN 71805 76 EACH STUDENT 70656 77 AN INTERNET 70253 78 AN AGENT 68112 79 AN ADVANTAGE 67937 80 AN ENEMY 64324 81 AN OFFICER 63998 82 AN EXPLANATION 63696 83 AN ELEMENT 63286 84 AN EXCEPTION 62052 85 AN EFFECT 61972 86 AN ARMY 61548 87 ONE PART 61007 88 AN EMPHASIS 60547 89 ONE EXAMPLE 60419 90 AN EXCUSE 58804

91 AN APARTMENT 58725

92 AN INDICATION 58634 93 AN INJURY 58250 94 AN ABUNDANCE 55834 95 AN AWARD 55160 96 AN APPLE 55149 97 AN IPHONE 54652 98 AN E-MAIL 54575 99 AN ASSET 54230

100 AN EXECUTIVE 52470

A2 vocabulary in the above search:

accident, air, apartment, appointment, area, art, artist, idea, mail, offer, office, order, piece, point, reason, side, way

A search in the iWeb corpus for:

one _NNT * * _V*D

1 ONE DAY WHEN I WAS 1087

My old lady took a bottle of pills one day when I was at school.

listen

2 ONE DAY, I WAS 851 3 ONE TIME WHEN I WAS 652 4 ONE TIME, I WAS 377 5 ONE DAY WHEN HE WAS 369 6 ONE TIME, IT WAS 355 7 ONE NIGHT WHEN I WAS 351 8 ONE DAY WHILE I WAS 330 9 ONE DAY, HE WAS 286 10 ONE DAY AS I WAS 263 11 ONE DAY. I WAS 260 12 ONE DAY. IT WAS 254 13 ONE NIGHT, I WAS 238 14 ONE DAY, I DECIDED 217

15 ONE DAY, I HAD 208