Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[worksmart]

Hi Teachers,

Do I change a to An and pronounce the as "thee" when they are in front of all long and short vowel sounds?

If not, please shed some light on this.

Thanks!

[CP]

The apple
The ace
The exit
The e-mail
The itch
The iPod
The opera
The oldies
The usher
The unit
The Ypsilanti
The Oolong
The Eureka
The oil
The outhouse
The Aeneid
The oenologist

I'd have to sey yes to all, Worksmart.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[CP]

The apple
The ace
The exit
A e-mail
An itch
An iPod
An opera
An oldie
An usher
A unit **
An Ypsilanti
An Oolong
A Eureka **
An ointment
An outhouse
An Aeneid
An oenologist

Both unit and Eureka begin with the sound "you," which would not sound good with "an." After all, it is euphony (smooth sound) that makes us put a consonant in there in the first place.

Also note that some people say "an" instead of "a" when the next word starts with a silent or nearly silent "h": "An historic event."
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[CP]

Let me correct that last one. It should have had these:

An apple
An ace
An exit
An e-mail

Sorry.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[worksmart]

As always...Thanks CP!

[erik19283]

So, would it be wrong to say "a historical..."?

[CP]

No. The "h" isn't really silent in "historical" as it is in "honor," for example. You have to say, "It's an honor," not "It's a honor," but you don't have to say "It's an historic occasion." You can say, "It's a historic occasion." That's why I said that some people say it that way.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[redset]

I think most words beginning with 'h' actually used to be pronounced with it silent, so everbody used to say 'an hotel'. As time went by people began to sound the h's, so it became 'a hotel' instead. Some words (like 'honour') still retain the silent h, but most have it pronounced. I don't know if this applies to every h- word, but it's a little background at least

[CP]

I believe the British are more likely than the Americans to have the silent "h," at least for the last 100 years or so. For anything before the era of sound recording, it's very hard to determine how people pronounced things, except where some writer or other commented on it.

(I have heard it said that people in Shakespeare's day did not pronounce the final "g" in words like "nothing," "talking," etc. I don't know how anyone would know that. And it's kind of disappointing to think of Shakespeare saying, "You're not sayin' anythin', you blinkin' knave!")
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[redset]

Haha well, don't forget that Shakespeare produced popular entertainment for the masses, and looking at what passes for that now I wouldn't say that's too far a stretch