By Vowels, Definite articles

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 you have yourself noted, we generally use the...

If the word begins with a vowel - ie 'unsuspecting' then it is preceded by 'an', if it doesn't ie 'sympathetic', then it is preceded by 'a'.

Saska wrote: Guest wrote:Why many foreign speakers have such problems with the English language? I mean, I came to the U.S. about two years ago, and in the beginning I've had problems with the language (probably just like eveybody else), but what makes English such a difficult language to...

General Canadian English is extremely similar to General American English. However, there are a number of differences between the two dialects. Firstly, GCE (General Canadian English) exhibits a linguistic phenomenon called Canadian Raising. Basically, the diphthong “ai”--as in "by" or "lie"--is...

A and an signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. These indefinite articles are used with singular nouns when the noun is general; the corresponding indefinite quantity word some is used for plural general nouns. The rule is: a + singular noun...

Just passing by, pardon me for sticking my nose in, but... We say 'a history' but 'an historical'. Some people do. I'm not sure when it became trendy but I wish people would cut it out. I find it painful to hear. "An historical whatever" or "an hallucination" is only correct if...

Hi, This topic was recently discussed in the the thread entitled Indefinite Article With Hispanic? Basically, if you pronounce the 'h', say 'a'. If you don't, say 'an'. I say 'a herb'. When you speak of the grammar rule of 'a' only coming before vowels, I hope you are not saying we should...

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 precedes words beginning with a silent h, and words with...

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 precedes words beginning with a silent h, and words with a...

Guest wrote:Use "a" if the next word begins with a consonant, and "an" if the next word begins with a vowel. A tiger, an angel, a book, etc. A historical character. This is not completely correct. The indefinite article a is used when the following word starts with a consonant sound The...