POLL: A or AN

[Lithium381]

doesn't matter what letter it is, it's the sound.....as mentioned below.....

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

bah

 

[BurnItDwn]

the sound that the word user starts with is a y sound. So of course A is the correct word to use in this case.

 

[SWScorch]

a user is correct
an historic event is correct

 

[Czesia]

Originally posted by: Ikonomi
AsianriceX is completely correct. The "an" in front of "h" words is nothing more than a colloquialism stemming from the silent "h" in English. Hotel = 'Otel, Hammock = 'Ammock, and so on. The sound determines the use of "a" or "an". Always.

Originally posted by: AsianriceX
This is incorrect. You're supposed to use "an" when you have a vowel sound, not a vowel itself.

Example:

Incorrect--That is an European car.

Correct--That is a European car.

This sums it all up. Excellent post. :beer:

"I am a user." -- The first sound in "user" is a "yoo", which is a consonant sound.

"I need an umbrella." -- The first sound is "uh", which is a vowel sound.

"It will take an hour." -- The word begins with a consonant, but the first sound is "ow", a vowel sound.

I concur.

 

[Savij]

From the English book sitting in front of me:

Use a before words that begin with consonants or words that have initial vowels that sound like consonants.
A primitive artifact
A one-horse carriage

Use an before words that begin with vowels and words that begin with a silent h.
An aqueous solution
An honest person

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: Czesia

Originally posted by: Ikonomi
AsianriceX is completely correct. The "an" in front of "h" words is nothing more than a colloquialism stemming from the silent "h" in English. Hotel = 'Otel, Hammock = 'Ammock, and so on. The sound determines the use of "a" or "an". Always.

Originally posted by: AsianriceX
This is incorrect. You're supposed to use "an" when you have a vowel sound, not a vowel itself.

Example:

Incorrect--That is an European car.

Correct--That is a European car.

This sums it all up. Excellent post. :beer:

"I am a user." -- The first sound in "user" is a "yoo", which is a consonant sound.

"I need an umbrella." -- The first sound is "uh", which is a vowel sound.

"It will take an hour." -- The word begins with a consonant, but the first sound is "ow", a vowel sound.

I concur.

Exactly. It's what it SOUNDS like it starts with. Not what actual letter is there. Each vowel has hard and soft sounds. Basically if you would use 'a' it would sound like you were stuttering with the hard sounds: a umbreela, a honest mistake, a apple.

In those cases, you use AN because the N lets you basically slur into the next word without pronouncing the initial sound.

 

[allisolm]

a user is correct
an historic event is correct

a user is correct
a historic event is correct (historic starts with a consonant sound)
a halloween
an honor


However, there are so many people using the a and an differently that the rules are getting to have no meaning. I heard on a commercial for the new Stargate series "An Stargate." I hear newscasters and movie characters say "an historic" and read in print words with the wrong article used. When enough people don't know how to properly use something in a language, the language, sadly, usually changes to fit the ignorance.