ChatterBank3 mins ago
"A" "An" ?
41 Answers
A zebra = correct
An Zebra = Wrong
A Elephant = correct?
An Elephant = correct
Im confused as usual :(
An Zebra = Wrong
A Elephant = correct?
An Elephant = correct
Im confused as usual :(
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Only partly true, Jomifi. In traditional English grammar the rule is that when a multi-syllable word begins with H and the primary stress is on the second syllable, then the H is not pronounced. So an hotel, an hysterical novel, an historical fact - but a history (because primary stress is on first syllable). That's from memory incidentally - from a very long time ago.
Modern usage has superseded this greatly and the 'an' now sounds a bit precious/archaic imho.
Modern usage has superseded this greatly and the 'an' now sounds a bit precious/archaic imho.
The addition of the letter ‘h' to the front of ‘aitch'...ie the name of the letter itself...is generally regarded as uneducated, though it definitely IS becoming more common in day-to-day usage. In fact, The Oxford English Dictionary - the ‘bible' of English words - does not even list it.
It seems to have originated in Irish English and is relatively common in Australian speech. It may be that - like the rising intonation at sentence ends - Australian soap operas have had some influence. That is possibly because many Irish religious Brothers took teaching positions in the early days of settlement there.
I cannot confirm what follows, but I have been informed that, to this day, one can tell whether someone is an Irish Protestant or a Catholic by asking him to recite the alphabet, The latter, it is claimed, invariably says haitch.
As long ago as the 1700s, the addition or omission of an opening ‘h' was common in British regional speech, giving rise to forms such as the two following...
(a) "If a haitch and a ho and a har and a hess and a he don't spell 'orse, then my name haint 'enry, awkins."
(b) "Rifle butts are made of hoak, hash or ‘ickory." So said the apocryphal army drill-instructor.
It seems to have originated in Irish English and is relatively common in Australian speech. It may be that - like the rising intonation at sentence ends - Australian soap operas have had some influence. That is possibly because many Irish religious Brothers took teaching positions in the early days of settlement there.
I cannot confirm what follows, but I have been informed that, to this day, one can tell whether someone is an Irish Protestant or a Catholic by asking him to recite the alphabet, The latter, it is claimed, invariably says haitch.
As long ago as the 1700s, the addition or omission of an opening ‘h' was common in British regional speech, giving rise to forms such as the two following...
(a) "If a haitch and a ho and a har and a hess and a he don't spell 'orse, then my name haint 'enry, awkins."
(b) "Rifle butts are made of hoak, hash or ‘ickory." So said the apocryphal army drill-instructor.
‘An hotel', with the ‘h' silent, is perfectly correct, though somewhat dated nowadays. However, British people of a certain class and age do still use it...it's as simple as that.
It is optional whether or not to pronounce the opening ‘h' in words in which the first syllable is unstressed...eg habitual, horrendous, hotel, historian, horrific etc and therefore whether 'a' or 'an' is used before it. The five words just listed commonly have ‘an' before them.
It is probably the lack of opening stress rather than any French provenance - as some claim - that matters, although opening letters ‘h' in French itself are not spoken . Hackney, hearse, homage and hostage all came to us from French, too, but I do not know of any evidence that British people - other than Cockneys etc - ever said 'ackney, 'earse, 'omage or 'ostage. It is probably because of such words that the relevance of French pronunciation has been doubted as regards the 'an (h)otel' usage.
Much more significant surely is the fact that all four of these words - hackney, hearse, homage and hostage - open with a stressed syllable which the other four - hotel, habitual, historian and horrific - do not. It seems most probable, therefore, that stress-pattern is more important than French origin in this matter. Fowler's Modern English Usage does not even mention a French factor here, though it does indicate the relevance of the unstressed opening.
...cont)
It is optional whether or not to pronounce the opening ‘h' in words in which the first syllable is unstressed...eg habitual, horrendous, hotel, historian, horrific etc and therefore whether 'a' or 'an' is used before it. The five words just listed commonly have ‘an' before them.
It is probably the lack of opening stress rather than any French provenance - as some claim - that matters, although opening letters ‘h' in French itself are not spoken . Hackney, hearse, homage and hostage all came to us from French, too, but I do not know of any evidence that British people - other than Cockneys etc - ever said 'ackney, 'earse, 'omage or 'ostage. It is probably because of such words that the relevance of French pronunciation has been doubted as regards the 'an (h)otel' usage.
Much more significant surely is the fact that all four of these words - hackney, hearse, homage and hostage - open with a stressed syllable which the other four - hotel, habitual, historian and horrific - do not. It seems most probable, therefore, that stress-pattern is more important than French origin in this matter. Fowler's Modern English Usage does not even mention a French factor here, though it does indicate the relevance of the unstressed opening.
...cont)
(cont...
The Americans have an example which we do not, in that they pronounce ‘herb' as if there were no ‘h' present. Thus, they refer to ‘an (h)erb' just as we say: ‘an (h)our'.
I'm sure all of us of a certain age will recall the judicial voice-over to the opening credits of Ronnie Barker's Porridge..."Norman Stanley Fletcher....you are an (h)abitual criminal who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner...." (Note, hazard and not azard!)
For all the above, though, it has to be said that Mark Twain once wrote: "As soon as the Jubilee was over we went to what is called in England ‘an hotel'. If we could have afforded an horse and an hackney cab we could have had an heavenly time flitting around." Someone should really have asked him about ‘erbs!
The Americans have an example which we do not, in that they pronounce ‘herb' as if there were no ‘h' present. Thus, they refer to ‘an (h)erb' just as we say: ‘an (h)our'.
I'm sure all of us of a certain age will recall the judicial voice-over to the opening credits of Ronnie Barker's Porridge..."Norman Stanley Fletcher....you are an (h)abitual criminal who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner...." (Note, hazard and not azard!)
For all the above, though, it has to be said that Mark Twain once wrote: "As soon as the Jubilee was over we went to what is called in England ‘an hotel'. If we could have afforded an horse and an hackney cab we could have had an heavenly time flitting around." Someone should really have asked him about ‘erbs!
Hi, C. Actually, I've been around AnswerBank for a decade more or less now and, prior to that, I was a memebr on a similar Q & A site in the US of A where I was the most prolific contributor.
I soon cottoned on to the fact that these places throw up "hardy perennials"...ie questions that appear again and again. Acordingly, I started to create my very own little encyclopædia which now contains over 1300 entries such as the two above.
Those I have refined and modified over time, so that they contain all I imagine the questioners might desire! From there, it is just Cut'n'Paste but using my own words rather than someone else's.
Cheers
I soon cottoned on to the fact that these places throw up "hardy perennials"...ie questions that appear again and again. Acordingly, I started to create my very own little encyclopædia which now contains over 1300 entries such as the two above.
Those I have refined and modified over time, so that they contain all I imagine the questioners might desire! From there, it is just Cut'n'Paste but using my own words rather than someone else's.
Cheers
