Correct me if I'm wrong, but the norm is to say "an historic" and "an hour." In other words, the basis for the usage of "a" or "an" is on the phonetic sound of the word, not its actual spelling. So...

Hi, I have a couple of questions to someone expert in Webster dictionary: 1) How many words exist in Webster dictionary? 2) If words are listed by alphabet, is it possible to be listed in any other way? Thanks I suppose I qualify as "someone

As per phonetics theory, I've been told one should use ... "an university" ? Are these instances of incorrect usage? Paul. A lot of people write 'an hotel', which always surprises me. Do they say it without the 'h'? I

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 /

Great, I was even called a dick. Thanks a lot. Don't take it too seriously. People in this newsgroup enjoy punning off each others messages. there's nothing personal in it. However at least one person noticed that I really use this tool to

Enrico C wrote on 21 Nov 2004: Anyone with a dictionary that either providesShould have been "provides ... to acquire the correct pronunciation without needing a teacher's help. That could be said for virtually anything: you can find the

Many early cities excavated by archaeologists were in Mesopotamia, and they were identified by their enormous, fortified walls, from 3500+ ... to the invention of a simplified phonetic alphabet. After that, literacy spread beyond the caste of

(no arguments with snipped pieces) What on earth is a "civilised" society? Most of those that we think of as civilised have indulged in armed conflict sometime or other during my lifetime. - I assumed that EK intended to imply that

Coillons! (And that's appropriate Middle English usage!) Semi is pronounced "Sem" to rhyme with them, and "mi" to rhyme with me. See-My is the US pronunciation, which is as usual, extremely ugly. "Anation of phonetic

Izzat so? ('sEmi) sounds no less correct to me than ('sEmaI) for that sense. There's no such thing in English usage as correct or incorrect. Coillons! (And that's appropriate Middle English usage!) Semi is pronounced