The choice of a or an is not based on the initial written letter. It is based on the initial sound. You have to listen to sounds, not look at letters, to decide. The most common examples are with words that start with the "y" sound,

Hi there, I was wondering about the following matter: Why do we use the indef. art. a -> /ə/ before words that start with a consonant sound? And why do we use the indef. art. an -> /ən/ before words that start with a vowel sound? The

I agree. It actually really vexes me when people use "a" in front of an acronym. Even though the previous post has been up for quite some time, maybe someone will run across this and find it helpful. Here is my reasoning: So, yes, we all

Hi Mathew, Yes, as Mister Micawber says, native English-speakers instinctively know which pronunciation of 'the' to use before a noun (or an adjective + noun), but I can see that it may be a problem for some people learning the language.

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 /

8. Why do you say “She is a one-eyed teacher” and not “ She’s an one eyed teacher”? (Focus on a phonetic explanation) The article an is used before vowel sounds, not vowel letters. The word one is pronounced wun . The w is not a vowel sound even

Hi, I am having a debate with co-workers regarding which indefinite article to use preceding Hispanic. We agree the article a precedes words beginning with a consonant, the article an precedes words beginning with vowels. We also know an

The maximum onsets principle isn't universally accepted. See http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/syllabif.htm which ... /n/ goes in the third syllable because of stress.) Jonathan Who is Wells? Professor of phonetics at University College

Hi Yo, A vowel sound is determined, as suzi rightly pointed out, not by its look, but by its sound. Two of the most confusing semi/half consonents in Engish are those such as /ju:/ in "Europe and /w/ in "one". The looks of these are very

: So how does the rule on "u" and "a" or "an" work (or all the vowels for that matter)? Why is it a university, but an umbilical cord? Because of the pronunciation, not the spelling. University is pronounced