Is it 'an' or 'a'? Written 'an' as well?

Question

Is it:

'an honorable'

or

'a honorable'

Thanks so much!

Yes, you would say "he is an honorable person", for example. Or - "it is an honor to meet you." (spelled with no "u" in the United States) - mountaingirl123, Oct 16, 2010

Thanks :D - kanani142, Oct 16, 2010

Answer 1

It is "an honorable". The reason is that the "h" is silent, so even though the word "honorable" begins with a consonant, you treat it as though it begins with a vowel.

Thank you! - kanani142, Oct 16, 2010

Is that how it is written also? - kanani142, Oct 16, 2010

Yes it is. :) - culé, Oct 17, 2010

Answer 2

Is that how it is written also? - kanani142

Yes, Kanani, tiene que tener la n, por escrito y hablado.

Answer 3

Y ten en cuenta que palabras como uniform comienzan con un sonido consonántico (/?ju?.n?.f??m/), así que también se dice "a uniform". Este fenómeno es idéntico al cambio de o a u o el de y a e cuando la siguiente palabra comienza con el mismo sonido: en la frase "cromo y hierro" no se dice "e hierro" porque la i se pronuncia como semiconsonante (/'jero/), igual que en uniform.

Answer 4

La cita de qfreed es correcto, es debido al sonido, la que puede traer los problemas con acentos regionales. Un ejemplo conocido es 'historic'. Unos dialectos en el RU la se pronuncian con la 'h' y unos sin la 'h'. Por eso tenemos 'a historic' y ademas 'an historic'. Ambos son correcto, depende del acento.

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The quote from qfreed is correct, it's based on the sound - which then can lead to "problems" with regional accents. A classic example is 'historic'. Some dialects in the UK pronouce it with the 'h' and some without. So we have 'a historic' as well as 'an historic'. Both are correct, depending on the accent.

Answer 5

English articles

The form an is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as in an hour, and a before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in a European).