http://www.englishforums.com/English/EslGeneralEnglishGrammar-Questions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here.enXMOD (Build: 3598.39794)http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#760996Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:41:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:760996Philip0http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#760996http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-760996.xmlFor some reason, after six years, this thread has been brought back to life. I'm going to close it, as I'm sure that everything that can be said has been said, at least once.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#760964Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:22:06 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:760964Anonymous1http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#760964http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-760964.xml'an hotel' is correct as you don't pronounce the 'h' in speaking, but either will suffice.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#707211Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:31:17 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:707211Glsutcliffe2http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#707211http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-707211.xmlOops, sorry for the confusion; I neglected to log in. I wrote that and I was responding to the person above who said that "an hotel" is correct grammar, without backing it up. As you can see, my argument favours "a hotel", not "an hotel".http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#707151Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:14:18 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:707151Clive3http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#707151http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-707151.xmlHi, Thanks for taking the time to quote that. I read it to say that either 'an hotel' or 'a hotel' is correct, depending on your pronunciation, but that the latter is much more common. Best wishes, Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#706922Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:14:53 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:706922Anonymous4http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/4/vrb/Post.htm#706922http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-706922.xmlBy whose authority? Here's one authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, Oxford, "Opinion is divided over the form to use before h -words in which the first syllable is unstressed: the thoroughly modern thing to do is to use a (never an ) together with an aspirated h ... but not to demur if others use an with minimal or nil aspiration given to the following h ..." "An hotel (with no aspiration in the second word) is now old-fashioned ... but by no means extinct ..." Although An + h is still just about accepted in these cases, the force seems to be in favour of a + h . And the argument above that it was originally a French word is neither here nor there. It's fully assimilated into the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#706773Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:15:55 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:706773Clive5http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#706773http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-706773.xmlHi, Why do you think that it's correct grammar? Best wishes, Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#706756Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:01:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:706756Anonymous6http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#706756http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-706756.xml'An Hotel' is the correct grammar, but in general usage in speech, most people say 'A hotel', pronouncing the 'h'http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#662431Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:39:40 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:662431Anonymous7http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#662431http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-662431.xmlAn Hotel is correct English because the 'h' is silent. However, modern usage accepts either an hotel or a hotel becuase the majority of people now pronounce hotel with the 'h'.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#484695Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:484695MrPedantic8http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#484695http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-484695.xmlHotel was originally a French word and the H is not pronouced "'otel" and therefore it is and should still be An hotel with a silent H. How do you pronounce "beef" and "mutton", Anon? MrPhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#484499Fri, 08 May 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:484499Anonymous9http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#484499http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-484499.xmlHotel was originally a French word and the H is not pronouced "'otel" and therefore it is and should still be An hotel with a silent H.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#353528Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:353528Goodman10http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#353528http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-353528.xmlHonestly, come to think of it, I found myself using half the rule of “a” and half of “an”, just as Khoff described. How strange!http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#353252Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:353252Anonymous11http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#353252http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-353252.xmla hotelhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#178573Fri, 08 May 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:178573Sam C12http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#178573http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-178573.xmlAnonymous wrote: At no time is the h dropped. you cant've stayed in many otels if you've never eard h-dropping.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#178533Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:178533Anonymous13http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/3/vrb/Post.htm#178533http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-178533.xmlHotel - the h has always been stressed and is not a seilent h as in the examples you gave. You only use drop the H if you are French (in hotel). You do not say I am getting on an 'orse, neither do you say, in English I am staying in an'otel. This is bad English. When were you told not to say hotel. We are staying in a; The hotel was closed; This is a big hotel. At no time is the h dropped.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#129601Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:129601Glsutcliffe14http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#129601http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-129601.xmlAmerican and British English differences have nothing to do with this. Herb is the only example of difference between the two. 'An hotel' is archaic but may still be used by old-fashioned writers. The rule that somebody mentioned above is correct: an + 'h' when the first syllable is unstressed is acceptable. In my opinion, 'an historic' sounds a bit pompous but there you go. If in doubt, follow the "a + consonant" rule as normal ('a historic') as "an + h before unstressed first syllable" should eventually be phased out unless the BBC style guide has its way.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#121452Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:121452Nyarlathotep15http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#121452http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-121452.xmlThis is an interesting thread. I'm English, but I don't, by any means, speak standard English. Where I'm from, people drop t's and h's almost always. I suppose it's just laziness. Nonetheless I have always understood that we are to use 'a' for consonants and 'an' for vowels, but with a few exceptions. One of these would be 'historian', which I, at school, was taught to precede with 'an'. Now, I never understood this. When we're not being lazy, we pronounce the 'h' in 'historian' in the same way we do the 'h' in 'hotel'. It 'sounds better', and more natural, to use 'a', in this case. To this day, in concurrence with David 's statement, I only use 'an' with words beginning with vowels or silent h's (such as heirloom). This...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#120535Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:120535CalifJim16http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#120535http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-120535.xml"an" before a word beginning with "h" is possible only under the following circumstances: 1) The "h" is silent; OR 2) The "h" is sounded, AND the word is polysyllabic, AND the first syllable of the word is unstressed, AND the next letter after "h" is "i" or "y", pronounced as in "him". In Group 1 you have "an heir" and "an honest man". In Group 2 you have "an historical novel" and "an hysterical reaction". And then you have all the others, which belong to neither group, like "a history book" and "a hotel" and "a horrific experience" and "a hammer" and "a humanitarian effort" and "a harpoon". I wouldn't be surprised if some style manuals advise "an" before an "h"-word only when "h" is silent, dropping the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#120421Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:120421Teacher Eric17http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#120421http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-120421.xmlBee, As a guide, pay more attention to the initial sound instead of the initial letter. So, if the starting letter of the acronym is "S" then the article to be used is "an" because "S" sounds like /es/. The same goes for "LG". You should say, "I bought an LG TV." As a rule, use "A" before a consonant sound and "An" before a vowel sound. It's a university, not a college. Do you have a one-dollar coin? It takes an hour to get there. I got an F in math.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#120403Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:120403beebird18http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#120403http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-120403.xmlA related question: Is "a" or "an" correct before an acronym whose first letter is a consonent, but that is pronounced starting with a vowel. That is, SME is the acronym for subject matter expert. Obviously, SME starts with the consonant "S." But the acronym is pronounced "ess, em, ee." Therefore, do we ask questions of a SME or an SME? Thanks in advance. Deehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94581Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:94581CalifJim19http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94581http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-94581.xmlI know the Americans drop more h's than we do. Except for the example of "herb", which with the 'h' sound is the name of a person (!), I find this statement absolutely false !!! I'm willing to 'ear more about it 'owever. CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94534Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:94534David20http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94534http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-94534.xmlSilent h an. Pronounced h use a. A hook. An heirloom. Also depends on how a is pronounced.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94365Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:94365MrPedantic21http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94365http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-94365.xmlI believe that 'an' can be used with words that start with a silent H, or words where the H is sounded, but the first syllable is unstressed. Thus 'an historical', 'an historian', 'an hotel'; but 'a history', 'a hog', 'a hopeless case'. (That said, I'd vote for 'a hotel'/'a historian'.) MrPhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94324Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:94324khoff22http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/2/vrb/Post.htm#94324http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-94324.xml--- Many thanks. This has been a great help. The argument ended, the bet settled! --- Nothing is settled that fast on this board! As an American, I would say "a hotel" (pronuouncing the "h") and "an herb garden" (dropping the "h"). (however, if I were saying the name Herb, short for Herbert, I would pronounce the "h"). However, I seem to remember the rule that you say "a history" but "an historian," and I'm not sure why, as the initial letters sound about the same to me. Anyway, I also vote for "a hotel."http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#94254Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:94254ahawnt23http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#94254http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-94254.xmlThe use of the article "a" or "an" before "hotel" is influenced by the usage (i.e. whether American or British); however the conjecture that the usage of "a hotel" indicates the British is incorrect. There is a predilection for the phrase "an hotel" in the Queen's English when compared with the American usage (the Queen's English being the monastic form of British English). In using the Queen's English, the "h" is pronounced when the word "hotel" is spoken exclusively, but dropped when speaking the phrase "an hotel" (i.e. "an hotel" is pronounced: an o-tel'). This predilection is not sui generis to the word "hotel:" polysyllabic words beginning with "h" (e.g. "historic" and "hypothesis") are similarly phrased (e.g. "an historic") in the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#43520Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:43520anon124http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#43520http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-43520.xmlHi, Just adding my two cents, I'd vote for the "a hotel" version. Here is an article dealing with this specific question (including hotel) at AskOxford.com: Ask the Experts . If you look at Google search results: "a hotel" - 6,600,000 hits "an hotel" - 600,000 Thus, both versions are common, but "a hotel" is far more commonly used. In summary, I agree with the Guest's post above. MountainHikerhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#43501Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:43501Guest25http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#43501http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-43501.xmlI think this may be influenced by whether it is American or British English (but I could be wrong). The 'h' in hotel is pronounced in British English, therefore you use 'a'. There are words beginning with h where the h is not sounded, for example, heir. In that case you use an heir, not a heir. I know the Americans drop more h's than we do, so possibly they say 'otel and would use an but I'm not sure. I know they say 'erb instead of herb, which sounds really odd to Brits.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#43498Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:43498chelay26http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#43498http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-43498.xmlit really sounds awfull when you say "an hotel". From what i've learned we use "a" if the noun starts with a consonant letter like " a handbag" now, we use "an" if the noun starts with a vowel like" an apple". Please correct me if I'm wrong, thanks!!http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1209Fri, 08 May 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1209hitchhiker27http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1209http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-1209.xmlIt sounds awful though! :Phttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1169Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1169shmooliette28http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1169http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-1169.xmlHitchhiker is right, most people us a hotel, but you can also say an hotel! The reason people use an is because the first syllable is unstressed in hotel, much like the word hierloom or historic. If the first syllable is stressed like in hospital or househusband, then you can only use a. So, if you use a or an, you are technically right! Juliettehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1167Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1167maxandcharlotte29http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1167http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-1167.xmlMany thanks. This has been a great help. The argument ended, the bet settled!http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1164Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1164hitchhiker30http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htm#1164http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-1164.xmlSimple one this, a hotelhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htmSun, 08 Mar 2009 10:02:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1157Guest31http://www.englishforums.com/English/AHotelAnHotel/vrb/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-1157.xmlCould someone please tell us whether we say and write 'a hotel', or 'an hotel' or whether either is correct depending on the 'h' being pronounced.?