Question
Updated on
17 Jul 2017
- Portuguese (Portugal)
-
English (US)
Question about English (US)
What is the difference between "a" and "an" before a noun ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between "a" and "an" before a noun ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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17 Jul 2017
Featured answer
- English (US)
As long as "an" is before a word that SOUNDS like a vowel sound and not a consonant, you are correct.
a e i o u sounds are vowels. Easily, if a word begins with one of these letters you may know instantly to use an. However, typically with H words sounding like O/A we also use an.
Example:
An honorable man.
An honest mistake.
An hour of time.
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- English (US)
"A" is used before a noun if the noun does not start with a vowel.
"An" is used if the noun does start would a vowel.
"An apple"
"A car"
"An apartment"
"A fever"
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- English (US)
- Vietnamese
"an" used before a noun that starts with a vowel: a, e, i o, u
"an apple"
ex:
"a" used before a noun that is a consonant– not a vowel
ex: a bear (b is not a vowel)
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- English (US)
As long as "an" is before a word that SOUNDS like a vowel sound and not a consonant, you are correct.
a e i o u sounds are vowels. Easily, if a word begins with one of these letters you may know instantly to use an. However, typically with H words sounding like O/A we also use an.
Example:
An honorable man.
An honest mistake.
An hour of time.
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- Arabic
- French (France) Near fluent
There are four exceptions for "h" consonant.
Hour, heir, honest and honour.
The "h" is not pronounced in these words and there derived ones.
So we use "an" because the words start with a vowel
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- English (US)
There are more than 4 exceptions to this rule.... For example some vowel sounds don't use 'an' at all. It is best to look up or ask for examples when you learn a new word or decide to expand your vocabulary.
For example, "euphemism" does not use "an."
Union does not use 'an'.
Knocking boots is a euphemism for having sex.
People who are married are said to share a marital union.
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- Arabic
- French (France) Near fluent
Yes i agree. My exceptions were just for words beginning with "h".
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- English (US)
@hassina02 well in that case you at least forgot herb.
An herb garden is a great way to spice up meals for free at home.
There are many words in english that slip our memories
It is easy to do in this complicated language.
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