Writers sometimes confuse the use of the articles a and an. We were all taught that a precedes a word starting with a consonant and that an precedes a word starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y). Here’s the secret to making the rule work: The rule applies to the sound of the letter beginning the word, not just the letter itself.

One such rule is the one concerning whether to use a or an as an indefinite article (“the word a or an used in English to refer to a person or thing that is not identified or specified”). Some people feel strongly that words like 'historic' and 'historical' should be preceded by 'an', not 'a'.

The meaning of AN is a. How to use an in a sentence. A vs. An: Usage Guide.

AN meaning: 1. used instead of "a" when the following word begins with a vowel sound: 2. connected with or…. Learn more.

In this post, I will compare a vs. an. Both words are articles and are extremely common in the English sentence. As such, I will go over the general rule for a and an and use each in multiple example sentences. The basic rule for using a in a sentence is.

2022年10月2日 · Words that have a silent “h” begin with a vowel sound, so they use “an.” For words where the “h” sound is pronounced, such as hat, hotel, or hard, use “a.” She wore a hat to keep out the sudden chill in the air. They bought a house in May of last year. He was thought to be an honest person, so his lies came as a surprise. The meeting took an hour.

If the first letter makes a vowel-type sound, you use "an"; if the first letter would make a consonant-type sound, you use "a." However, even if you follow these basic rules when …

They are a type of determiner and they go before a noun. A/an before a noun shows that what is referred to is not already known to the speaker, listener, writer and/or reader (it is the indefinite …

Native speakers of English often give them no thought at all: the little words just slip off the tongue like nearly invisible thread linking more important lexical elements. In a way, a and an are the same word.

“A” and “an” are indefinite articles and work to modify the noun they precede. They are important to use to introduce proper grammar structure. But how do you know when to use “a” and when to use “an”? Let’s review what an indefinite article is, how it differs from a definite article, and how to know the differences between using “a” and “an.”