Saturday, August 10, 2013

grammar - Is the word European the only word that doesn't go after "an?"





I can only think of the word European as a word that doesn't go after the word an. Is there any other words that start with a vowel, but don't go after an?


Answer



That would be true of pretty much any word that started with a "you" sound, regardless of how it is spelled since "a" or "an" is based on the pronunciation, not the spelling.




A union



A utility



A eulogy, a eunuch, a euphemism, a euphoria




A uniform standard of spelling, which we don't have in English



A useful rule of thumb -- 'an' before vowel -- which doesn't always work



A unified mess of different linguistic sources, which compose the vocabulary of the English language.




OK, sorry, I got carried away.




Where it gets fun is where it varies by dialect. Is it "a hotel" or "an hotel"? Is it "a herb" or "an herb"? Depends on whether you are "a united states citizen".


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