SKILL 53:DISTINGUISH A AND AN

You have to know that we use an before words that start with a vowel sound, and a when they start with a consonant sound. The reason is very simple: the consonant ending sound of n in an helps to distinguish the two words. Otherwise, the vowel sounds would run together. It is actually very difficult to say "a hour" - your tongue gets stuck in the back of your mouth. It's much easier to say "an hour".

"A" comes before a consonant/consonant sound:

    A bird

    A kite

    A helicopter
    A horse

"An" comes before a vowel/vowel sound:

An ant

An ostrich

An elevator

Depending on where you are from, you can say "an historical event" if you only pronounce the "i" (you pronounce the vowel sound) and not the "h." That's how we say it in California, but we would write it as "a historical event."


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