Is it ever "a" before "h?"

It's "an hour" because the "h" in hour isn't pronounced. For "hallucination", the "h" is pronounced, so "a" is the correct article.

"A" in front of "h" is the rule; "an" is the exception.

ETA: I think it's also legal to use "an" before the words "historical" and "hysterical". Not sure why.

TheIT said:

It's "an hour" because the "h" in hour isn't pronounced. For "hallucination", the "h" is pronounced, so "a" is the correct article.

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Yep, where the voiced "h" is in a stressed syllable.

"A" in front of "h" is the rule; "an" is the exception.

ETA: I think it's also legal to use "an" before the words "historical" and "hysterical". Not sure why.

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Because the voiced "h"s are on unstressed syllables.

Even though the primary stress in "hallucination" is on "LUC", the first syllable is also stressed, although less so than "LUC". Whereas in "historical," the "his-" is unstressed.

So it's:

"A history"
"An historical event"
"A hallucination"
"A hallucinatory experience"


and so on.

There are some words that some people use "an" for and some people use "a"--I say "an hotel" but I know many many people in the US who say "a hotel" and there it is.

This is accent dependent. I say "an hour" but I also say "a herb" (because I pronounce the "h"). Most Americans say "an herb", so that's how they'd write it.

We had a great (and hilarious) discussion on this a long time ago. Not that we shouldn't have it again, I only remember it because it was so funny.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22726

"A horse is a horse,
Of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse,
Of course,
That is, of course,
Unless the horse
Is the famous Mr. Ed."

caw

LOL! Blacbird, I remember that poem! My aunt used to go around saying it all the time.

bluejester12 said:

Is it ever correct to use the article "a" before a word that starts with "h?"

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If you are an American, and the H is not silent.

In the UK, I would not go so far as to say one never uses the article "a" before the letter H, but I've never encountered it.

"Well, of course it's got an hole in! It wouldn't be an hoop if it hadn't got an hole in, now would it?!"

We sang that one a little differently.

A horse is a horse,
Of course, of course,
And no one can suck off a horse,
Of course,
Unless, of course,
The horny horse
Is the f**king Mr. Head...

And then we got detention.

I'm SO glad I didn't start on the soup yet

I hate messy keyboards and monitors

I'd have said I had an' allucination. Probably the Cockney in me.

I suspect that whoever made up these English rules and exceptions was smoking an herb.

Dana-Lynn said:

LOL! Blacbird, I remember that poem! My aunt used to go around saying it all the time.

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Poem my foot, it was a TV sitcom theme song, and I actually remember how the melody goes!

Ben, getting older and older every day...

I would go with "a historical event" instead of "an historical event." But then again, I'm American, and I pronounce the "h" in "historical."

Also, the dictionary that holds the highest clout for me is the Webster's New World College Dictionary, and it calls for "a historical."

"An" goes in front of a vowel, and vowels are not limited to a, e, i, o, u.

"Hour" sounds like "owl": with a vowel. Thus "an hour."

"Horse" sounds like "whores": without a vowel. Thus "a horse."

"Unit" sounds like "you-nit": without a vowel even though it starts with a "u." Thus "a unit."

"Evening" sounds like "Ee-vening": without a vowel even though it starts with an "e." Thus "a evening."

I think the "h" is very confusing in English because it can have a vowel sound: hour, hor d' oeuvres, honest, honor, etc. Just say the word loud and see if it sounds with an "o" sound instead of "h."

In British English, at least, it is a little more complicated than just whether the 'h' sound is that of a vowel. Even in words where the consonant is pronounced, if the first syllable is unstressed, then it is acceptable to use 'an'. This used to be standard, though nowadays both 'an' and 'a' are found.

So you would have:

a horse (consonant pronounced, monosyllabic word)
an honest man (consonant not pronounced)
a history lesson (consonant pronounced, first syllable stressed)
an historical novel (consonant pronounced but first syllable unstressed)
a hotel (if the consonant is pronounced and the first syllable stressed)
an hotel (if the French pronunciation is used so that the consonant is dropped)

I think I'd say 'an hallucination' because the stress is on the second syllable.

benbradley said:

Poem my foot, it was a TV sitcom theme song, and I actually remember how the melody goes!

Ben, getting older and older every day...

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I remember it too, and I'm only 22 .

maestrowork said:

"Evening" sounds like "Ee-vening": without a vowel even though it starts with an "e." Thus "a evening."

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Seriously? I can't imagine how you pronounce evening so that it doesn't begin with a vowel sound. And I've really only ever heard and seen 'an evening'.

I was curious, so I did a google search. 'A evening' gets 246,000 hits; 'an evening' gets 12,600,000. On the first page for 'a evening' were: "Chick-Fil-A Evening" and also "A evening with Barack Obama". Make of that what you will.

maestrowork said:

"Evening" sounds like "Ee-vening": without a vowel even though it starts with an "e." Thus "a evening."

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Huh? This confused me. Sounds like a vowel sound to me.

girlyswot said:

an historical novel (consonant pronounced but first syllable unstressed)
an hotel (if the French pronunciation is used so that the consonant is dropped)

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I've never heard "an historical novel," and I was British-educated.

As for an hotel (French) that kind of doesn't make sense since the French don't use "a" or "an." Now "an hor d' oeuvres" would make sense.

veronie said:

Huh? This confused me. Sounds like a vowel sound to me.

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I mean "Yee-vening." "Yee" is a consonant. But some argue "evening" actually starts with a vowel "e-vening." That's when it really gets confusing.

maestrowork said:

I've never heard "an historical novel," and I was British-educated.

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Yes, these days 'an historical novel' sounds old-fashioned, though still acceptable. 'a' is probably more common.

As for an hotel (French) that kind of doesn't make sense since the French don't use "a" or "an." Now "an hor d' oeuvres" would make sense.

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But the French do pronounce 'hotel' without the initial 'h' sound. Why do you think 'an hors d'oeuvre' makes more sense? It's the same principle.

maestrowork said:

I mean "Yee-vening." "Yee" is a consonant. But some argue "evening" actually starts with a vowel "e-vening." That's when it really gets confusing.

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'Yee-vening'? Never heard that one!

Maryn said:

The rule is that for an H-word to be preceeded by an, it must have:

• a pronounced H (ruling out words like hour, heir, honest, honorable, honorific);

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I think you have this the wrong way round? All of the words without a pronounced 'h' are always preceded by 'an'.

• three or more syllables;
• the role of a noun or adjective immediately before a noun, so an article (a, an or the can naturally preceed it (excluding however);
• the ability to accept the indeterminate article (the one that isn’t the because it means a specific one, which leaves out humanity);
• a primary accent on the second syllable ( heroic, historic, historical, honorary, horrific, hysterical, etc., but not heroism, highlander, hillbilly, horrible, hospital, humanitarian, or hysterectomy); and
• a formal or academic context, usually. Most US newspapers' and magazines' style standards have long-since dropped an H-word usage.

Maryn, who taught this to her kids via a print-out near the sink

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Good rules! I'd add that it's not just formal or academic, but also in general speech among the older generation. My grandmother, for instance, would always use 'an' in these situations.

girlyswot said:

But the French do pronounce 'hotel' without the initial 'h' sound. Why do you think 'an hors d'oeuvre' makes more sense? It's the same principle.

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What I meant is since "hotel" in English is pronounced as "Hole-tel" and the article "a" or "an" is used in English, not French, so an "or-tel" doesn't make sense because "hotel" is an English word.

Meanwhile, "hor d' oeuvre" is a French word that has been borrowed to English but still is pronounced the French way. So in English, "an hor d' oeurvre" would make sense. Meanwhile, in English, "an hotel" would not make sense.

'Yee-vening'? Never heard that one!

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Probably a regional thing.