# EN: a / an + word starting with "h"



## Jocaste

Bonjour !
Sachant que l'on ne prononce pas le "_h_" de _heir_, _hour _et _honest_, doit-on mettre _*a *_ou _*an *_comme déterminant ?

*Note des modérateurs :* Plusieurs fils ont été fusionnés pour créer celui-ci.


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## pyan

An heir, an hour and an honest person.


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## Thomas1

Les mots que vous avez donnés se pronnonçent avec une voyelle dans le début de leur prononciation alors on a besoin d'_an_. 


Tom


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## juliobenjimino

the onl time in english that an aspirated 'h' takes 'an' instead of 'a' is 'historical':

_this is an historical moment_

It sounds rather odd to the ears, and I have no idea why this is the way it is. Weirdly, 'history' does NOT take 'an':

_A history of violence._

Go figure.


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## Thomas1

Thanks for this tidbit, juliobenjimino. I must admit that I've never come across such a usage and always seen _a historical_ otherwise it would surely draw my attention.

It indeed sounds weird. Do you happent to know if the choice of the article is somehow contingent upon the context; or if it's upon something what is it?


Tom


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## marget

Thomas1 said:


> Thanks for this tidbit, juliobenjimino. I must admit that I've never come across such a usage and always seen _a historical_ otherwise it would surely draw my attention.
> 
> It indeed sounds weird. Do you happent to know if the choice of the article is somehow contingent upon the context; or if it's upon something what is it?
> 
> 
> Tom


 
I think the choice of the article depends on the person.  I, personally, always say a historical...  If I had to read a text aloud which had "an historical... ", I would not pronounce the "h".


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## Thomas1

I wonder if it used to be pronounced without the aitch in the past or it is a new alteration in the phonological system.

I also believe that this pronounciation can be more wide-spread in the UK or is it quite common in the States (and other English-speaking parts of the world)? 


Tom


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## pyan

juliobenjimino said:


> the only time in english that an aspirated 'h' takes 'an' instead of 'a' is 'historical':
> 
> _this is an historical moment_
> 
> It sounds rather odd to the ears, and I have no idea why this is the way it is. Weirdly, 'history' does NOT take 'an':
> 
> _A history of violence._
> 
> Go figure.


There are a few people who say that we should use an "an" before "historic", "historical", "hysteric", "hysteria" and "hysterical". Their argument is based on the idea that these words have an emphasis on the second syllable, e.g., "hist*or*ical".  They say this changes the way we say the "h", making it lighter, so we need an "an" before the word.

This was the argument given to me at school in the 1950s in British English based schools.  I think it is a lost argument now.  I don't find it odd to hear or say "an historical" or "a historical", but I write "a historical..." now.


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## marget

pyan said:


> There are a few people who say that we should use an "an" before "historic", "historical", "hysteric", "hysteria" and "hysterical". Their argument is based on the idea that these words have an emphasis on the second syllable, e.g., "hist*or*ical". They say this changes the way we say the "h", making it lighter, so we need an "an" before the word.
> 
> This was the argument given to me at school in the 1950s in British English based schools. I think it is a lost argument now. I don't find it odd to hear or say "an historical" or "a historical", but I write "a historical..." now.


 

I believe I also heard that explanation in a linguistics class, but I don't agree with it.  I can't detect a difference in my own pronunciation.  What I do find interesting, however, is that I pronounce the  "o" differently in historian and historical.


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## juliobenjimino

I just remember this from my english language exam a few years ago (actually 10 years ago, god I'm old) and my teacher wouldn't accept 'a historical' AT ALL, she was quite stern about it... 
I would definitely use 'an historical' in formal writing. Maybe its been lost over the Atlantic?

I like the argument about the stress on the second syllable though.


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## marget

juliobenjimino said:


> I just remember this from my english language exam a few years ago (actually 10 years ago, god I'm old) and my teacher wouldn't accept 'a historical' AT ALL, she was quite stern about it...
> I would definitely use 'an historical' in formal writing. Maybe its been lost over the Atlantic?
> 
> I like the argument about the stress on the second syllable though.


http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/a-an.html This link seems to confirm that in American English we basically don't say "an historical". Out of curiosity, I googled "a historical" and got over 23 million hits. "An historical" yielded  a mere 1,350, 000. It doesn't prove anything. It's simply an observation. Google is my friend, but not my pronunciation guide!


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## stelllla

J'ai un doute affreux concernant l'utilisation de "a" et "an" devant les mots commencant par "h"

ya t il une regle?

je dirais machinalement : a heart/ a heartbreaker
mais j'aurais tendance à dire: An heartless man
Ai je tord?


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## marget

stelllla said:


> J'ai un doute affreux concernant l'utilisation de "a" et "an" devant les mots commencant par "h"
> 
> ya t il une regle?
> 
> je dirais machinalement : a heart/ a heartbreaker
> mais j'aurais tendance à dire: An heartless man
> Ai je tord?


 
Any word with heart would be treated in the same way as heart - a heartless man.  It's only if the h is silent that we use "an" in front of it, such as "an hour".


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## Maître Capello

Je ne dirais jamais _a*n* heartless man_, mais uniquement _a heartless man_ puisque le _h_ est aspiré.

Tu trouveras en outre une explication intéressante dans ce Wiki.


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## coiffe

Stelllla,

I don't know of a rule, but almost all words beginning with "h" in English will be preceded by "a", if there is an indefinite article, and very few by "an." Some of the latter would be imports from other languages, like "an hombre," when the initial "h" in the other language is not pronounced.

If you're in doubt, choose "a" and you will undoubtedly be right.


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## rolmich

Hello everybody,

Could someone explain the rules.
For example before the following words : 'a' or 'an' ?
- habitat
- hymn
- handle
Thanks in advance


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## franc 91

The examples you give all begin with an aspirated 'h' , so the 'h' here counts as an honorary consonant - hour and honest don't have the same honour.


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## Mash

rolmich said:


> Hello everybody,
> 
> Could someone explain the rules.
> For example before the following words : 'a' or 'an' ?
> - habitat
> - hymn
> - handle
> Thanks in advance



To clarify, since the "h" is pronounced in all these words, the correct article is "a" and not "an".

For words like "honour" and "hour", where the "h" is silent, use "an".

(There is an exception. Certain academics insist on saying "an historic event", for some bizarre reason. Next they'll be living in "an house" on "an hill"...  )

Hope that clears things up


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## ladlab

Il y a 4 mots qui doivent  être précedés de an . Ce sont heir, honest , hour, et honour. je suis française mais c'est ce qu'on m'a appris pendant mes études.


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## CapnPrep

You might want to read this thread in English Only. It currently contains 107 messages.
*A or an, historic, historian, historical, hotel, humanitarian, Hawaiian, honour, herb, hypothesis  ...*


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## juliobenjimino

To repeat one of the above posts, the answer is in the stress. If the stress falls on the FIRST syllable, use 'a'. If it falls on the SECOND syllable (much rarer), use 'an'.

Examples:

a _hos_pital
a _hap_py man
a _horr_ible person

an his_tor_ical moment
an hys_teri_cal woman

BUT 
1. This is CORRECT english, and is not that common in spoken/argot English
2. If the 'H' is *silent* eg. hour, honest, honour, always use *'an'.*

Basically, if you use 'a' for *all aspirated 'h' sounds*, no-one will correct you. The above rules are for those who wish to speak perfect spoken English.

Toute à l'heure!


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## Gerdihono

Pretty much you can even think of it like this, all of the words mentioned, 'cept for Hombre lol, are from french, which doesn't pronouce the "h" and thus we dont either in english in those words, so we use "an" after all, "a" and "an" have the same meaning and "an" is jsut used for ease of articulation because pronouncing two vowels together is a difficult task. i believe that the "an historic..." will disappear in due time as an archaic irregularity, though im sure it has an interesting history, because it just isnt used. then again, ive heard people say "a apple" which is totally wrong to most, yet completly comprehendible. i dont acutally think i added anything new to this haha, i just felt like adding something 

also at juliobenjimino -   Linguistically speaking, there is no such thing as a perfect language, or speaking a language perfectly... a living language is something that is constantly changing, and one that is diffrent from one day to the next. In early modern english times the -ing pregressive ending was pronounced as -in with the g silent and the -ing pronunciation was deemed incorrect, however nowadays i would say it has pretty much flipped around, with -in being much more colloquial ie. i was walkin' down the street.  I know this is trivial but the word perfect brought into language always annoys me haha and i know you didnt intend to, please forgive my ramblings


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## la pie qui chante

Bonjour,

Je trouve que "an historian" sonne mieux à l'oreille que "a historian" certainement parce que j'ai dû l'entendre plus souvent.

Mais est-ce grammaticalement correct?

Dans le même ordre d'idées, dit-on "a hypothesis" or "an hypothesis"? Le second sonne mieux mais cela est-il fondé?

Qui connaît la règle?

Merci,


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## scolby33

I hope you can understand me, because my French is not advanced enough to answer your question.

The rule is the indefinite pronoun "a" becomes "an" when the word it goes with begins with a vowel or an h. However, it is becoming acceptable to use either "a" or "an" before words beginning with "h." Both "a historian" and "an historian" are colloquially correct, but only "an historian" is officially correct. It is never correct to use "a" before a word beginning with a vowel; "a ox," for example, is wrong.

I hope this answers your question.


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## envy3d

I was always taught to use 'a' before a word starting with an 'h'. 

I think both are perfectly acceptable.


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## afbyorb

What I was taught:
*a* before words beginning with a consonant (including h)
*an* before words beginning with a vowel

Exceptions:
*an* before a silent h (hour, heir, honor etc)

_*an* historic _- acceptable according to _Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage_


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## Pyon-sama

sort of off topic, but i also have heard "a unicorn", which should it have been "a unicorn"?


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## envy3d

Right, I forgot about the silent h. Basically, if you pronounce the h then use a. If you don't pronounce the h then use an.

The u in unicorn makes the 'y' sound which gets the article a.

e.g.
a year
a unicorn

but

an update


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## la pie qui chante

Thank you everyone. 

En résumé (pour les francophones):
consonne (h qui se prononce, ou u prononcé comme y): a
voyelle (et h qui ne se prononce pas): an

Merci encore à tous.


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## CookieZeal

Other than what someone said about the accented  second syllable being preceded by "an", my late English professor father said that it was an exception only with the omission of the "h" in spoken alliteration. " En ma plus de parfait francais, mon pere dites qu'il et "an" quand parles la lettre "h". Je me suive les quatre annees dans l'ecole secondaire si Je ne parle pas la langue correctment!?? lol


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## Tochka

"HERB" is another "h" word with an AE/BE difference that may be problematic, but which I don't see mentioned in this recently revived thread.

Americans don't pronounce the "h" in "herb", and therefore we will speak of "an herb" (or "an herbal remedy", or "an herbalist").
In BE, on the other hand, the "h" is aspirated and therefore I presume (although my ear doesn't entirely recall) this means one would refer to "a herb" in BE.


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