a v an.

[Seamus123]

.....

 

[cloudy]

I know (I think) that you generally use 'a' something when the following word begins with a consanant: e.g. a building, a car, a tree. And that you use 'an' when the following word begins with a vowel, e.g. an egg, an apple. However, it bugs me when I read the news etc and people write 'an historic monument'. If i'm completely wrong, forgive me, but 'an historic' just grates against me sooo much. Surely it should be 'a historic'? Or not? Please help me!

You're right.

 

[scheherazade_79]

I think you're both wrong, but I can't for the life of me explain why

 

[jomar]

May this will help:

A or An?

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab

"A" goes before all words that begin with consonants.

* a cat
* a dog
* a purple onion
* a buffalo
* a big apple

with one exception: Use an before unsounded h.

* an honorable peace
* an honest error

"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels:

* an apricot
* an egg
* an Indian
* an orbit
* an uprising

with two exceptions: When u makes the same sound as the y in you, or o makes the same sound as w in won, then a is used.

* a union
* a united front
* a unicorn
* a used napkin
* a U.S. ship
* a one-legged man

Note: The choice of article is actually based upon the phonetic (sound) quality of the first letter in a word, not on the orthographic (written) representation of the letter. If the first letter makes a vowel-type sound, you use "an"; if the first letter would makes a consonant-type sound, you use "a." So, if you consider the rule from a phonetic perspective, there aren't any exceptions. Since the 'h' hasn't any phonetic representation, no audible sound, in the first exception, the sound that follows the article is a vowel; consequently, 'an' is used. In the second exception, the word-initial 'y' sound (unicorn) is actually a glide [j] phonetically, which has consonantal properties; consequently, it is treated as a consonant, requiring 'a'.

 

[matriarch]

'An historic'.....is the way I've always been taught to say it.

Sounds better than 'a historic' to me, but I can't for the life of me explain why.

Edited because: I just read Jomar's post, and now it's all clear to me why 'an' sounds right.

Thank you.

 

[Seamus123]

Odd, because i'm the other way around. That article is helpful, although i'll still argue that is should be 'a historic'. Honourable and Honest could work without the h, they're not as pronounced as the h is in 'historic'.

 

[cloudy]

Odd, because i'm the other way around. That article is helpful, although i'll still argue that is should be 'a historic'. Honourable and Honest could work without the h, they're not as pronounced as the h is in 'historic'.

That's the way I was taught. Maybe it's taught differently in the UK?

 

[starrkers]

I'm in the "an historic" camp too. It's easier to say and sounds right to me.

 

[jomar]

Odd, because i'm the other way around. That article is helpful, although i'll still argue that is should be 'a historic'. Honourable and Honest could work without the h, they're not as pronounced as the h is in 'historic'.

That's true. The article didn't address "historic" exception. But like matriarch, I've always been taught "an" before "h."

 

[jomar]

So I got curious.

Here's what another site had to say: Generally, 'an' precedes 'h' where the 'h' is either silent, or so light as to be almost inaudible:

'A historical novel' > 'an historical novel'.
'This is not a hotel' > 'this is not an hotel.'

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Odd, because i'm the other way around. That article is helpful, although i'll still argue that is should be 'a historic'. Honourable and Honest could work without the h, they're not as pronounced as the h is in 'historic'.

Which is why the great bard had Mark Anthony say, "For Brutus is an honorable man." Julius Caesar Act 3, Scene 2

(Can't think of a quote with "an honest" right off hand.)

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Just-Legal]

Which is why the great bard had Mark Anthony say, "For Brutus is an honorable man." Julius Caesar Act 3, Scene 2

(Can't think of a quote with "an honest" right off hand.)

Rumple Foreskin

"They're about as common as an honest second hand car dealer" just popped into my head and I have no idea where its from...

 

[Stella_Omega]

Odd, because i'm the other way around. That article is helpful, although i'll still argue that is should be 'a historic'. Honourable and Honest could work without the h, they're not as pronounced as the h is in 'historic'.

The "h" is pronounced in American English, but when you say "An historic monument", the "H" is swallowed- at least, mine is.

A lot of these rules were set down by people who were trying to create a sort of mathematics of language, and wanted every alphabetic symbol to have a set of hard-and-fast rules, but language doesn't work that way.

 

[Seamus123]

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. Definately. But I definately pronounce the 'h' in historic more than I do in honourable or honest. I'unno. Odd.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I can't stand An Historic. It pisses the shit out of me. Maybe that's because I pronounce the H? I don't care. It just gets on my back and won't let go. Now I won't sleep right for years

 

[angelicminx]

I can't stand 'an historic' either. It just sounds... off.

Do you take 'an history test' or 'a history test'?

 

[Stella_Omega]

I can't stand 'an historic' either. It just sounds... off.

Do you take 'an history test' or 'a history test'?

"a nistory test"

... that really doesn't sound right at all...

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Boys and girls - and even Rumple,

You're chasing a rat up a drainpipe.

The 'n' is simply to help speech. 'a abbattoir' is unpronounceable so you shove in an 'n'. If you are posh you talk about ' an otel', otherwise it is 'a hotel'.

It is all a question of whether you aspirate (use through your mouth) the'h'.

We all accept 'a uterus' but what about 'an erotic coupling'? It is all down to that wonderful organ, the ear.

 

[gauchecritic]

Diction, dear. Diction.

Also an unicorn (which starts with a Y, which can be a vowel or a consonant) and semi-famously "an hundred".