A vs. An

When to Use A;

The basic rule for using a in a sentence is

Use a before words, abbreviations, acronyms, or letters that begin with a consonant sound, regardless of their spelling.
For example,

A dog.
A fish.
A university.
A utopia.

The important part is the sound of the word that follows, not necessarily the letter with which it starts. The above examples have words that begin with vowels and consonants, but we use a for all of them because they begin with the sound of a consonant.

When to Use An

An is used before words, abbreviations, acronyms, or letters that begin with a vowel sound, regardless of their spelling.

An idiot.
An element.
An honor.
An heirloom.

The rule only becomes tricky when you have a vowel with a consonant sound or a consonant with a vowel sound like in our above examples,

A university (yoo-ne-ver-se-tee).
A utopia (yoo-toe-pe-a).
An honor (ah-ner).

When you come across these, ignore what the first letter is and just listen to the sound that it makes. Say the word out loud. If it sounds as if it is beginning with a consonant sound, use a. If it sounds as if it is beginning with a vowel sound, use an

What if an Adjective is Added in Front of a Noun?

Some people aren’t sure how to apply this rule when an adjective appears before the noun being referred to.
For example, which of these are correct?

I went to an exciting concert last night. (CORRECT)
I went to a exciting concert last night. (WRONG)

The same rule still applies. “A” is used before words starting in consonant sounds and “an” is used before words starting with vowel sounds. It doesn’t matter if the word is an adjective, a noun, an adverb, or anything else; the rule is exactly the same.

Problem Words with An vs. A
There is, however, some disagreement (although it is decreasing year by year) on how to treat certain words that begin with “h,”Here is a list of most of them and their proper forms.

An hour.
An honor.
An honorary degree.
A hysterectomy.
A heredity trait.
An heir.
An heirloom.
An herb.
A humble man.
An homage to the fallen.

As we said above, this rule also applies to acronyms and initialisms. Whether or not to use an or a depends on the pronunciation.

An NBC television show.
An HTML document.
A CBS news outlet.
A Microsoft program.
-but-

An MS-DOS program.
Summary
Is it a or an? Both a and an are used as articles in the English sentences, but their use use differs based on what words follow.

How to Use A and An:

A is used with consonant sounds.
An is used with vowel sounds.

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