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Dear
Tonekia,
Before
I can answer your question about A and AN, I need to make
a few points. First, all languages are constantly changing,
so after a long time, the early form of a language is very
different from the present form. One way languages sometimes
change is for certain vowel sounds to shift. For example a
thousand years ago, BAN (pronounced BAHN) was the word for
BONE. Yes, it's hard to see it now, but a thousand years ago,
AN (pronounced AHN) was the word for ONE (just like BAN was
the word for BONE). So as the language developed, English
speakers kept the old way of spelling "one" to put
before any singular indefinite noun, like AN APE (that means
there's just one ape, and it's not a particular or definite
one). But English speakers used the new form of "one,"
spelled ONE, to mean the number "one."
Second, here's another way languages change. Often the last
sounds of words drop off when it's easier to pronounce the
word with other words. For example, did you know that ICE
CREAM used to be ICED CREAM? Did you know that "I"
used to be "IC" (pronounced just like "itch"!).
And I'll bet you say, "I USE TO" rather than "I
USEDuh TO," even though we still spell it USED.
When AN came before a word starting with a CONSONANT sound,
it was easier to drop the N sound and just say A. Try it yourself.
Is it easier to say AN TRAIN or A TRAIN, to say AN BOAT or
A BOAT? But when AN came before a vowel sound, it was easier
to keep the N sound because it makes going to the vowel sound
of the next word smoother. Try it yourself. Is it easier to
say AN APPLE or A APPLE, to say AN EGG or A EGG? (By the way
some folks DO use A before all words just fine, but most speakers
of English use AN before words starting with vowel sounds
and A before words starting with non-vowel (or consonant)
sounds-we call the type of English most preferred, the one
we learn to write with in school, STANDARD ENGLISH).
So why is it hard sometimes to know whether to use A or AN?
That brings up my third point. English started being written
down over a thousand years ago, so some spellings are very
old. At one time English spelling really did show how the
word sounded, but as the language changed, the spellings didn't
keep up. That explains why many English word spellings don't
work very well to express how a word sounds. For example,
KNIGHT used to be pronounced more like it is spelled, something
like K-NIH-K-T! Also, some words came into English from other
languages and were pronounced differently from how their spelling
looked. For example, look at the word HOUR taken from French.
Do you see that the H is not pronounced?
Putting all these facts together, you see that standard English
requires us to say AN before any word starting with a vowel
SOUND (it doesn't matter how the word is spelled, just how
it is pronounced) and to say A before any word starting with
a consonant (non-vowel) sound (again, no matter how it is
spelled, just how it is pronounced). So, follow your ear:
if the word starts with a vowel sound, use AN. If it starts
with a consonant sound, use A. Try these words out yourself.
If you trust your ear, I bet you'll get them right.
*********
An
A or AN QUIZ
Circle
the one that sounds right before the word: A or AN
1.
A or AN? uncle
2.
A or AN? union (HINT: Yuh is not a vowel sound)
3.
A or AN? hog
4.
A or AN? hour
5.
A or AN? herb (Do you and your friends disagree? HINT: Some
words can be pronounced more than one way.)
6.
A or AN? history (HINT: go by the sound. Sometimes you'll
see people use AN before HISTORY or HISTORICAL, but don't
be confused. These people think they are being correct, but
they are actually being very fuddy-duddy about this word.
They should write AN only if they actually say 'ISTORY or
'ISTORICAL, as the words used to be pronounced long ago.)
(scroll
down for answer)
Answers:
1 an, 2 a, 3 a, 4 an, 5 either a or an is correct depending
on whether you say 'erb or herb, 6 a
Thanks
for your question,
Aubie and Dr. Nunnally
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