Do i use "An" or A"

Forums: English, Esl, Grammar, Troll, Learning English
Email this Topic • Print this Page

View our luxury and exotic car rentals fleet to rent (a or an) Aston Martin Vantage Convertible and cruise through Miami in style.

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 3,157 • Replies: 57

[+5] - Setanta - 02/08/2015"An" is used before words which begin with a [i]vowel sound[/i]. "A" is used before words which begin with the sound of a consonant. This can be seen most often in words...
[+5] - Frank Apisa - 02/09/2015[quote="oristarA"] [quote="Pearlylustre"] Persons like me?? You mean a person who is fluent in English? What kind of person exactly do you think I am, oristarA? (No one...
[+4] - Pearlylustre - 02/09/2015Persons like me?? You mean a person who is fluent in English? What kind of person exactly do you think I am, oristarA? (No one else need answer!)
[+4] - Setanta - 02/09/2015I'm gonna out ya, darlin' . . . PL is a retired dentifrice advertising model . . .
[+4] - Lordyaswas - 02/11/2015OristarA, I remember seeing your threads many moons ago, when you were beginning to learn English and you were polite, positive and courteous. It seems now that you have the basics of English...
[+3] - Pearlylustre - 02/08/2015It wasn't like that because your answer about a/an was incorrect. Set's answer is the correct one.
[+3] - Frank Apisa - 02/08/2015[quote="contrex"] [quote="Frank Apisa"] [b]That was [size=200]an h[/size]onest answer.[/b] [/quote] Well, I felt as if I had wasted my time. It was like this: Q. is 3 an...
[+3] - Lordyaswas - 02/09/2015" (No one else need answer!)" M mmff mnnn mfffmnnmn anmmm mmmnffgnnn!
[+3] - Lordyaswas - 02/09/2015Sorry, I know I wasn't to tell, so I wore gloves while I was typing.
[+3] - Pearlylustre - 02/09/2015It pays the bills.

You use 'an' before words starting with a letter which is a vowel, (a,e,i,o,u) and 'a' before words starting with the other letters.

2 Replies

@contrex,

So in this Case i use AN ?

1 Reply

@Neos,

Neos wrote:

So in this Case i use AN ?

Read my answer above, and then look at the first letter of the word 'Aston'.

1 Reply

"An" is used before words which begin with a vowel sound. "A" is used before words which begin with the sound of a consonant. This can be seen most often in words beginning with the vowel "u." This is a useful tool. In that case, "useful" starts with the sound of a "y," used as a consonant. That is an understandable mistake. In that case, "understandable" starts with the sound of the vowel "u."

1 Reply

@contrex,

That was an honest answer.

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

That was an honest answer.

Well, I felt as if I had wasted my time. It was like this:

Q. is 3 an odd number?
A. The first few odd numbers are 1,3,5,7.
Q. So is 3 odd or even?

2 Replies

@contrex,

It wasn't like that because your answer about a/an was incorrect. Set's answer is the correct one.

0 Replies

@contrex,

contrex wrote:

Frank Apisa wrote:

That was an honest answer.

Well, I felt as if I had wasted my time. It was like this:

Q. is 3 an odd number?
A. The first few odd numbers are 1,3,5,7.
Q. So is 3 odd or even?

I was just trying to make a point with my sentence.

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

I was just trying to make a point with my sentence.

One which I failed to see. My bad. I am old enough (or posh enough) to write and say 'an hotel'.

0 Replies

@contrex,

contrex wrote:

You use 'an' before words starting with a letter which is a vowel, (a,e,i,o,u) and 'a' before words starting with the other letters.

I know you know very well when to use a or an, Contrex. But your expression above is easily to be misunderstood by persons like Pearlylustre, e.g. the word Europe, which starts with "E", a vowel if seen as a letter itself! Very Happy

Of course you tended to mean a"vowel" sound in the word as a whole.

1 Reply

@oristarA,

Persons like me?? You mean a person who is fluent in English? What kind of person exactly do you think I am, oristarA? (No one else need answer!)

2 Replies

I'm gonna out ya, darlin' . . . PL is a retired dentifrice advertising model . . .

1 Reply

@Pearlylustre,

" (No one else need answer!)"

M mmff mnnn mfffmnnmn anmmm mmmnffgnnn!

2 Replies

@Lordyaswas,

Sorry, I know I wasn't to tell, so I wore gloves while I was typing.

0 Replies

@Setanta,

It pays the bills.

0 Replies

@Lordyaswas,

Sounds about right though.

0 Replies

@Pearlylustre,

Pearlylustre wrote:

Persons like me?? You mean a person who is fluent in English? What kind of person exactly do you think I am, oristarA? (No one else need answer!)

You've had too much thoughts in your mind.
You said Contrex's answer is wrong, but actually his answer is right.

2 Replies

Contrex's answer was incorrect in that it referred to the initial letter of a word, rather than the initial phoneme. As usual, when Oristar pretends he's got expert knowledge of English, he just ends up looking like a fool.

0 Replies

@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Pearlylustre wrote:

Persons like me?? You mean a person who is fluent in English? What kind of person exactly do you think I am, oristarA? (No one else need answer!)

You've had too much thoughts in your mind.
You said Contrex's answer is wrong, but actually his answer is right.

His answer is not right.

As Setanta just pointed out...and as I illustrated earlier...the first letter is not definitive as to use.

It is AN Honor is fine English. The "h" at the beginning of the word does not necessitate the use of the article "a." The sound of the beginning of the word is the determinant...and honor sounds as though it begins with a vowel.

And the other side of the coin is a word like "union"...where "a" would be used rather than "an", because of the consonant sound.

1 Reply

Do i use "An" or A"

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know