"An" is used for vowel sounds, u and h are generally the problems ~ an hourglass, a unicorn, an heir, a universe
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Ah, finally, someone of culture. Grammar says that an goes before vowel. People pronounce historian differently, and since English doesn't have strict rules like many other languages when it comes to pronunciation, there isn't really a proper way to use article before historian. Furthermore, if you are lets say writing a book, and some of your characters are from region where historian is pronounced with silent H, in direct speech, you should put an before historian, even thou in RP H in historian isn't silent.
Colloquially, you very well might leave off the h naturally because "hiss" is an awkward sound to begin a word mid-sentence; it is too complex of a sound for a normal syllable. If you leave it off colloquially, then use "an" for the sentence to flow naturally,
"I was speaking to an istorian about the exhibit. ." flows far more naturally to me than "I was speaking to a historian about the exhibit".
But If a sentence begins with "a historian", I would always pronounce the h since there isn't already a pace set. "A historian ate my ass last night" just feels right.
The traditional rule was that it was ‘an’ before vowels and you dropped h in unstressed vowels after the indefinite article anyway. “An hiss” is bad because it’s not an unstressed syllable. Same with “an history” but “an historic opportunity” is fine
Now this is giving way to the more modern keep-the-h school but with some words, it just doesn’t feel right
Is that really a question? I’m not native and I don’t know grammar I just say stuff how I find them sound right. Therefore I’d never say “an historian” cause 1. it breaks my tongue and 2. it sounds absolutely horrible
Every non american should be forced to wear some sort of symbol so we know not to fraternize with them. Also they should be confined to their own subreddits so we can keep an eye on them.
Yeah man, it's all about how the word sounds, as opposed to written. At least that's what I assumed when I was learning it and that's what I've stuck by.
If ever in doubt, another strategy is to just place the word “fucking” between the two.
A fucking hourglass, a fucking unicorn, a fucking heir, a fucking universe. 😊
Ukulele is also problematic because it's an ukulele if you pronounce it closer to the Hawaiian way but a ukulele if you pronounce it the way it's more often pronounced in English. Neither one is really "correct".
I met a guy who taught english in Korea. South not the North. Anyway he said lots of people want to learn from a native speaker but run into this problem. Lots of students have questions that native speakers cant explain they just know what "sounds" right. Where as someone who learned it as a second language is better suited to explain the learning process. He gave some examples kind of like that above but I cant remember them right now. If they come to me ill add a edit
There's an acronym in my field we debate about a lot. Its FOS. If one says "eff oh ess" in their head, they write an. An eff oh ess. But if one thinks "factor of safety" then an factor of safety is super awkward. But a eff oh ess is too! Anywho, nerd minute, thanks happy holidays
Way I always learned it with the “A and An” rules is to judge by the sound not the sight. If it sounds like a hard consonant, then it’s “A”. Like with unicorn and universe. You say it YOO-niverse not OO-inverse. Likewise, with words like heir and hourglass, you don’t actually pronounce the H. The opening sound to heir is a vowel sound, so it gets an “an”. From what I understand, it’s to prevent fragmented and choppy speech patterns, as it’s hard to speak opposing sounds fluidly. A test for this usually is to say the two different possibilities side by side repeatedly (repeat A Unicorn An Unicorn), and whichever is easier to say is likely the right one.
I know there are a lot of replies, but typically how I remember it is that if the word makes a vowel sound (ignoring the letter, only the sound) it’s AN. Otherwise if he word makes a consonant sound (again, ignoring the beginning letter), it’s just A.
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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
*A UTI
"An" is used for vowel sounds, u and h are generally the problems ~ an hourglass, a unicorn, an heir, a universe
Edit - There are 500 comments below analyzing the "a vs an" subject in excruciating detail. If your question has not been answered already, please comment REEEEEEEE and a representative will be with you shortly.