"the break even point analysis is all right if you have a one product business"?. Just pay extra attention to this point a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a car, a stare, a dog, a cat ... an + singular noun

It is just convention. English spelling is not 100% consistent or regular. There have been many attempts at spelling reform, but none so far has gained any traction. There is no "academy" for English, as there can be for other languages.

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.

Pronunciation is the only determining factor. If the noun or adjective being used starts with a VOWEL SOUND, then it should be preceded by "an." Here are some examples: An apple, an argument, an uncle, an old man, an amazing story, an

Lesson 1: Basic Pronunciation The following will make you sound Southern to non-Southerners: Pin pen merger: Pronounce "pin" and "pen" both as pin . Any /E/ followed by an /n/ should be sounded as /In/ No yod dropping: therefore " No

It's not regional (except insofar as it seems to me to be more AmE than BrE) and not sloppy, in my opinion -- unless you want to say also that British speakers who say "choon" for "tune" are sloppy. It is "glide absorption", and it is

There are many rules governing the writing of compounds, and many exceptions to the rules. I would say that you should always first consult a good dictionary to see if the compound has an established form. From Webster's Third New International

In American English, the sound of "s" depends on which sound comes before it. 1. If the noun ends in an unvoiced consonant sound: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, /th/-(thin), pronounce "s" as /s/. 2. When it ends in a voiced consonant sound, /b/, /d/,

Excuse me, I put 'Approaching' instead of 'Seizing'. Hi Ariel, Why don't you try the Cambridge Dictionary online? Just click in "show phonetics". :-) http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ Irma. BTW Mexican. Thanks, I am

Well, latha, generally speaking, the rule says that between two vowels the sound must be pronounced /z/, as well as when you write and and sometimes . If it is next to consonants or it is written as a sibilant, then it must be pronounced /s/. For