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I want to go to AN university in.....

 
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Toby



Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Wedded Bliss

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 4:13 pm    Post subject: I want to go to AN university in..... Reply with quote

Question.

Why is it - I want to go to a university in England

but not - I want to go to an university in England?

Surely, because university begins with a vowel, it should be 'an', but it isn't. Why not?
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kprrok



Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: KC

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

because the "u" in university is pronounced "yoo". If it were pronounced "uh", you would be correct in saying "an uhniversity".

Just like hour. It starts with a consenant, but the sound the h makes is a vowel sound, so you use "an".

It doesn't matter what letter a word starts with, it's the sound the letter makes.

KPRROK
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tommynomad



Joined: 24 Jul 2004
Location: on the move

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Except for "hotel," which takes either "a" or "an."

My students are stupefied by English's rule exceptions.
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mishlert



Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 5:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My creative writing teacher in college told us that the rules for the English language are very specific but not set in stone.
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fidel



Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Location: North Shore NZ

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Except for "hotel," which takes either "a" or "an."


Depends on your regional dialect. If perchance, you happen to be from parts of England where you drop the h and say "otel", then an is perfectly acceptable, however generally we say "a hotel" as the h is not silent.
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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 7:49 pm    Post subject: yes Reply with quote

It's simple. It's not 1st letter of the word. It's 1st sound.
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manlyboy



Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mishlert wrote:
My creative writing teacher in college told us that the rules for the English language are very specific but not set in stone.


I taught a girl who would deliberately break the rules.
Me: Why did you spell it "midnite"?! You know that's wrong! Confused
Her: Teacher! There's nothing romantic about good spelling! Cool
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Demophobe



Joined: 17 May 2004

PostPosted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

manlyboy wrote:


I taught a girl who would deliberately break the rules.
Me: Why did you spell it "midnite"?! You know that's wrong! Confused
Her: Teacher! There's nothing romantic about good spelling! Cool


Laughing

Very Cool indeed!!
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tommynomad



Joined: 24 Jul 2004
Location: on the move

PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fidel wrote:
Quote:
Except for "hotel," which takes either "a" or "an."


Depends on your regional dialect. If perchance, you happen to be from parts of England where you drop the h and say "otel", then an is perfectly acceptable, however generally we say "a hotel" as the h is not silent.


I'm not so sure it's regional. I've encountered "an hotel" many times where the "h" is spoken, by native speakers, in Canada and in Europe. And don't get me started on how often it appears in print.
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matthewwoodford



Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Location: Location, location, location.

PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's an historic occasion -- Sounds a bit better with 'an' than 'a' to me




They stayed in an hotel -- What an horrible expression, sounds pretentious
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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:02 am    Post subject: yes Reply with quote

Koreans are bad for purposely writing/typing incorrectly, and I have picked up the habits.


Thye substitute the vowel �� for �� a lot, and contract a lot of words. That's just for starters.
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JaphieR



Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Location: Bundang

PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

my students would get a severe beating with the ���ʸ� if they ever put an before hotel. Just kidding. Only my canadian coworker uses the one of those (I got it for her as a joke but she actually uses it now). I just send them out to the head teacher where they get hit over the head with a work book.

But really, I've never heard of "an hotel." where are you from?
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Wangja



Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan

PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"An hotel" is invariably used by the upper middle-classes usually from the south of England.

To me, even as one taught to speak that way, it has always sounded awkward and even contrived as if it were used by the speaker to impress the listener with his superior speech. I prefer the basic rule: an before a vowel - the first sound rule as somebody has said.

I almost blush when I am in the circles that expect me to use it .....
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