Hi and welcome to Englishforums! It's " a unique ... " because " u " here represents a consonant sound. The same goes --for instance -- with " a university " and " a user ". However, " u "

If you look in a dictionary: the 1 play_w2("T0146800") ( before a vowel; before a consonant ) Or, "thee" before a vowel and "thuh" before a consonant. It's not a rule we learn in school, but it's

How does university have a consonant sound at the beginning? U is a vowel and it makes a vowel sound when spoken. Surely it would be better to say there is no real rule that denotres the usage of these a's and an's. University

How does university have a consonant sound at the beginning? U is a vowel and it makes a vowel sound when spoken. Surely it would be better to say there is no real rule that denotres the usage of these a's and an's.

A goes before CONSONANT sounds whereas AN goes before VOWEL sounds, this is pretty plain to see. And it also makes easier joining the words as we speak. i.e a unique, a uniform, a university, a universal problem, a unilateral agreement, a united

Yes, Yankee's comments above pretty much speak for British English usage, as well as for American English. The initial u in the 'consonant' examples given by Yankee is invariably pronounced as yoo . As for British usage of 'An

The use of 'a' or 'an' is based on pronunciation . If a word begins with a vowel sound , you should use 'an'. For example: - an apple - an elephant - an idea - an orange - an umbrella - an hour - an SOS If a word begins

As per phonetics theory, I've been told one should use the indefinite article "a" before words beginning with a consonant and "an" before words beginning with a vowel or a diphthong. And the sound "y" ( or / j /

The letters W and Y are semi-vowels. Though they are consonants, at times they behave like vowels as their sounds in certain words change into vowel sounds. The word "European" starts with the vowel "E" but has the consonantal

Thank you Grammar Geek for your compliment, I am glad to be here with you sharing and learning. In fact I have also meant what you said. If the pronunciation starts with a consonant sound then it takes "a", as in "university". Besides, as in