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

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.

This debate really seems to be about two different things, spelling and pronunciation. The letter w (and y) is often used with other vowels (and sometimes alone as well) in spelling to reperesent a vowel sound . In the words hi and by , the letter

I have come to the sudden realization that I don't ... and I can't say (wVjr). -Aaron J. Dinkin Dr. Whom I pronounce them all in the same way. But I have heard others pronounce them differently, as you say. Fi-uhr, with a schwa. But no one

I wonder if there are any speakers of a variety ... the "Ef" pronunciation. Is he from Scotland or somewhere nearthere? I don't know, but I still want to know what that ferocious-sounding interjection is that all the MPs utter

I wonder if there are any speakers of a variety of BrE who has created an initialism for the phenom ... in London). It was the Speaker who consistently used the "Ef" pronunciation. Is he from Scotland or somewhere near there? I don't

I wonder whether he's a BrE, say, who is hearing some particular American accent's /E/ realization as an /i/. PIPs, for example, will say "semi" in a way that might sound like "simmy" or "simm-eye" to PINPs. I

I know dialects and idiolects differ on this pernt, but in my dialect "gram" and "Graham" and "graham" and, I ... I'm talking from, what with the vowel shift and all. A Southern US speaker would probably have even

I think all of your cot/caught vowels sound like normative CINC AmE "aw". Suddenly you're throwing around this word "normative", which means about the same as "prescriptive". No one can be rightfully prescribing