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Hello all,
I got a question from one of my friends. which is correct? 'an year' or 'a year'?When I googled 'an year' and 'a year', it seems people don't really care which one's right.
I would really appreciate if anyone could enlighten me on this one.
Thanx
I think they care: 541,000,000 for "a year"; "395,000" for "an year".
(Which = 395,000 cases of "fat finger syndrome".)
MrP
Phonetics can be tricky
I attribute those 395,000 to the little dip just after lunch, when your eyelids start to droop and your fingers type whatever they want to type.
I know "year" begins with a consonant (or semi-vowel) sound, but while listening to “When Somebody Loved Me,” I noticed Sarah McLachlan pronounced "the" in "the year" as if it's followed by a vowel. I don't think she did so to emphasize the uniqueness of that particular year. Is this a Canadian thing?
Hi,
Most singers, not just Canadian ones, exercise some artistic licence as regards their pronunciation.
Best wishes, Clive
A / AN
Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels), 'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)
Examples:
A boy An apple A car An orange A house An opera
NOTE: An before an h mute - an hour, an honour. A before u and eu when they sound like 'you': a european, a university, a unit