a or an

[IknowMe]

I was watching a sitcom last night and one of the characters was looking to his brother to help him choose a career path. The brothers advice was to quickly finish the statement "I want to be a ......." revealing his true desire.

The brother imeddiatly answers "Cop" and then blames his brother for making the decision for him as the choice was either a cop or an Alarm Salesman.

I'm unaware with the rules regarding the use of each and thought I'd look them up. I then thought it would be funner to ask here.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[Dollie]

A" is used when the word after it begins with a consonant.

"An" is used when the word after it begins with a vowel, or if the word is a form of "history" for some dang reason I can't remember.

If the brother would have said "I want to be...." instead of "I want to be a....", our sitcom world would have one less police officer.

 

[Stella740pl]

"A" is used when the word after it begins with a consonant, or sounds like it does.

"An" is used when the word after it begins with a vowel, or sounds like it does.

Actually, it's the sound that matters, not a written letter.

In other words, if you pronounce the initial "h" in forms of words like "history", "humor", "honor", etc., then you use "a"; if you don't, then you use "an".

If you pronounce "SQL" as "ess-que-el", then you use "an"; if you pronounce it "sequel", you should use "a".

 

[AnotherHiggins]

A" is used when the following word starts with a consonant sound.

"An" is used when the following word starts with a vowel sound.

It is the sound, not the letter, that determines whether you should use A or AN.

Personally, I pronounce the "H" in "history", so "a" would be correct. Brits generally pronounce it more like "'istory" and should use "an".

Similarly, I would say, "An hour" because I pronounce "hour" like "our".

And I would say "an NCSU alumni" because N has a vowel sound at the start.

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[SantaMufasa]

Obviously, not only do great thinks mind alike, but they often do so at the same instant, as in Stella and John.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> And I would say "an NCSU alumni" because N has a vowel sound at the start.
When did this become a hypothetical discussion? :-D

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[Dollie]

OK, so if it's the sound and not the letter itself, why does it bother me so much to hear news anchors (for example) that say "An historic occasion..."?

If they are pronouncing the H in historic (doesn't everyone?), why use "an"?

 

[IknowMe]

Thats a lot of things to consider. Not remembering having ever been formally trained in the subject I'll be paying closer attention to whether or not I am using the words (is a a word?) correctly. It will be interesting to see if I've picked up the pattern or alternate based on reasons I don't yet know.

Is there a reason behind the rule?

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I've always thought of it kind of like speaking cursive ("curly writing" or "joined-up writing" to you Brits, I think). It allows the speaker to blend one word into the next.

I think Americans saying "An historic" sound ridiculous. Similar to someone saying, "I" or "Myself" when they should use "Me" (which was just brought up in thread1256-1329979). Just trying to sound "proper" and "correct" and, in the process, overcompensating.

Saying "An umbrella" blends nicely. "A umbrella" is hard to say without sounding jerky and halting. Similarly, "An historic" sounds unnatural (when pronouncing the H) whereas "A historic" flows more easily.

"An 'istoric," on the other hand, is quite smooth. Even if the speaker is American, I think that is an acceptable pronunciation.

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[IknowMe]

That makes sense, but If I pronounce A umbrella it's as easy to say as an umbrella. But I agree a umbrella sounds quite redundant.

Although an umbrella is what sticks out in my mind as correct, and suprisingly it follows the rules.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[Stella740pl]

MrMilson,
If I pronounce A umbrella it's as easy to say as an umbrella.

anotherhiggins didn't say that "A umbrella" is hard to say, he said that "A umbrella" is hard to say without sounding jerky and halting." There is a difference here. ;-) So, once again, it's all about the sound.

 

[stackdump]

An hotel" always sounds odd, the Oxford Dictionary folks explain this here

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/hotel?view=uk

 

[IknowMe]

Agreed Stella, I was just trying to point out If I use a BIG A sound it was easier to say A umbrella than it would be for me to use a small a sound A umbrella vs uh umbrella. As well as making it easier for me to spell it correctly.

"An umbrella" definately makes the smoothest transition and validates the explanation AnotherHiggens so kindly gave to satisfy my curiousity.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> BIG A sound it was easier to say A umbrella than it would be for me to use a small a sound
I know the difference between a "long A" sound and a "short A" sound but I don't understand "big A" and "small A". What is the difference between a "big A" sound and a "small A" sound?

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[SantaMufasa]

What is the difference between a "big A" sound and a "small A" sound?

From what I know, "big" = "long" and "small" = "short". But I've also heard that size doesn't matter. <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I think the key to what MrMilson meant was, "A umbrella vs uh umbrella".

Y'all are talking about the same thing: that sometimes "A" is pronounced as a long A (as in ape), other times it is pronounced more like "ah" or "uh" (as in also).

Santa: niiiice.

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[SantaMufasa]

Has anyone noticed the difference in how your throat works between &quot;a umbrella&quot; and &quot;an umbrella&quot;? With the former pronunciation, regardless of whether is is a &quot;long-a&quot; or a &quot;short-a&quot;, you must produce a &quot;full glottal stop&quot;. Such a physiological event does not happen with &quot;an umbrella&quot;.

That is exactly why I say &quot;an historic&quot; event instead of &quot;a historic&quot; event (despite my pronouncing the &quot;h&quot; in both cases); it is because &quot;an historic&quot; produces a smoother physiological effort for the speaker than the slightly stilted physiology of &quot;a historic&quot;, especially when someone pronounces it, &quot;uh historic&quot;.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Welshbird]

I was always taught that one uses AN before a vowel and an 'H' so 'an hotel' sounds perfectly correct to me.

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[rjoubert]

How about using a or an before an acronym? For example, I've seen both used before "SQL statement". I guess if you pronounce SQL as S.Q.L (es - que - elle), then "AN" would sound correct, but if you pronounce it as sea-quol, then "A" would be more appropriate.

 

[rjoubert]

Fee...AN Hotel doesn't sound right to me. If the "H" is silent, then using AN would make sense.

Check out the following article...

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html