Simple grammar question?

[Deathcricket]

So I keep hearing this saying pronounced what I believe is improper, but wanted some feedback. Tell me what you guys think.

An historic event
A historic event

Which is right? If i was saying "An event that is historic" that would be fine since "an" is proceeded by a word with a vowel. But it was my understanding that if the word is not a vowel you use "a" instead of "an". For example, http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3025799 uses "a historic bridge", you never see "an historic bridge" but I always see and hear people use it the other way. An example would be UFC announcer Mike Goldberg always says "this is an historic fight tonight folks" and it always strikes me as wrong, yet I hear him say it constantly and figure someone would have corrected him by now.

So which is it?

An historic
A historic

I know in my "gut" it's "a historic" but hear it so often I wonder why.

:ne_nau:

[accadacca]

1st problem: Don't EVER get grammar lessons from ksl.com. :lol8:

[Sombeech]

The British say an, because they don't pronounce the h in historic. (in most dialects.)

Like an hour. But when we are pronouncing the h in historic or history, we say "a".

An honor in an hour of a historic moment is a happy gay old time.

[kris]

We saw this in Savannah this weekend on quite a few of the historic inns. They all said "An Historic Inn".

[sparker1]

We saw this in Savannah this weekend on quite a few of the historic inns. They all said "An Historic Inn".

So, how was your visit to Savannah? We were in City Market, River Street, Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski over the week-end.

[goofball]

i believe teh rule is "an" when the following word begins w/ a vowel - an evening at the improv

"a" when the following word begins w/ a consonant - a little sumin' sumin'

:ne_nau:

[stefan]

i believe teh rule is "an" when the following word begins w/ a vowel - an evening at the improv

"a" when the following word begins w/ a consonant - a little sumin' sumin'

:ne_nau:

but it gets more subtle ... it has to do with the sound the vowel makes.

how about "a one-liner" .... one here sounds like won. so it's sounds like it starts with a consonant.

try the word ... union.

[Iceaxe]

You're asking me for grammar tips???? :roflol: :roflol: :roflol:

[skianddive]

From a useful reference source.......proving, once again, how confusing the English language can be.

A or An?
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu)
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"A" goes before all words that begin with consonants.- a cat
- a dog
- a purple onion
- a buffalo
- a big apple
with one exception: Use an before unsounded h.- an honorable peace
- an honest error
"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels:- an apricot
- an egg
- an Indian
- an orbit
- an uprising
with two exceptions: When u makes the same sound as the y in you, or o makes the same sound as w in won, then a is used.- a union
- a united front
- a unicorn
- a used napkin
- a U.S. ship
- a one-legged man
Note: The choice of article is actually based upon the phonetic (sound) quality of the first letter in a word, not on the orthographic (written) representation of the letter. If the first letter makes a vowel-type sound, you use "an"; if the first letter would makes a consonant-type sound, you use "a." So, if you consider the rule from a phonetic perspective, there aren't any exceptions. Since the 'h' hasn't any phonetic representation, no audible sound, in the first exception, the sound that follows the article is a vowel; consequently, 'an' is used. In the second exception, the word-initial 'y' sound (unicorn) is actually a glide [j] phonetically, which has consonantal properties; consequently, it is treated as a consonant, requiring 'a'.

[Deathcricket]

From a useful reference source.......proving, once again, how confusing the English language can be.


OMG awesome post man! Perfect answer.

Bizaare rules we have though. I feel bad for anyone trying to learn this language.

:haha: