Using “a” and “an” Before Words Raphael asks: When should I use “a” and when should I use “an” before the different words? For example, should I say “a hour” or “an hour?” I stumble over this everytime and dont’t know if I’m getting it right, as

It has always been my understanding, that "the" should be pronounced with a LONG E before a vowel and a SHORT E before a consonant . However, lately, I hear only the short sound used. This applies to new broadcasters and others who do

Hi everyone! I've read people can omit /t/ sounds when speaking in informal situations. Could you help me? What do you know about this? Is this true? There's even a rule saying " In informal speech we sometimes omit the /t/ when the

I'm going to pass on the "should" question. My instinct tells me it could be ambiguous, because "should" has several uses. If you use "should" in the sense of "ought to," then it would be redundant.

At 19:22:12 on Fri, 4 Mar 2005, HB (Email Removed) wrote in : Forgive my ignorance, but can anyone name a few English dialects? We always learned (translator school in Flanders) that English had many accents, not dialects, the only dialect we ever

"'Plosive' is a relative term" means that there's no reason ... one time to another over a continuous range of values. It can't do that because if consonants were that loosely defined they'd be indistinguishable. It

"'Plosive' is a relative term" means that there's no reason ... one time to another over a continuous range of values. It can't do that because if consonants were that loosely defined they'd be indistinguishable. It

Now "plosive" is a relative term. In plosives, the airstream is completely blocked and then released, producing a temporary burst of overpressure. "'Plosive' is a relative term" means that there's no reason the

?? Every description I've ever read of French pronunciation for English speakers has made a point of the fact that French /t/, /d/ and /n/ are dental, unlike their alveolar English counterparts. These consonants are more advanced, but the

They told me in my pronunciation there is no difference between 'shouder' and 'shoulder'. I have just been pronouncing the two words to try to understand what the problem might be. What I observe is that the tongue doesn't move