Words that start with "H"

bluejester12

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No, not a Jeopardy question.


Do you use "a" or "an?" I think I've seen it both ways lately.
 

LynnKHollander

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Yes, as in an hour and a happy occasion. Herb, which is pronounced two ways, takes the appropriate article depending on the writer's habits: an (h)erb, but a herb.
 

maestrowork

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Is the word pronounced with an vowel sound? "Hour" or "honor" for example. Then use "an." If it's a consonant, use "a."

That goes with other words, such as "underwear" or "union."
 

HistorySleuth

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I mentioned that on another thread. I used to write "a historian" until I was told it was wrong. That one I couldn't hear how "an" was right. I stumble over it when I say out loud, "I'm an historian." So like a good writer should, I reword it and say something like, "I'm the assistant county historian," and avoid it all together. :D
 

Xelebes

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It truly varies by dialect and accent and can be used as a marker of accent. You could use it for effect if you so chose to use an alliterative phrase, playing on the stops:

An helpless oaf; an historian's honour.
 

Skippy75

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HistorySleuth, actually 'a historian' is now considered more correct than 'an' historian and most editors recognise that and use 'an' only for words that start with a vowel sound, as maestro suggests. Even the Chicago now recommends that usage. Hoorah! That's a hoorah, too.

The original idea of 'an" comes from the idea that some words of Greek or French origin would have been pronounced without the 'h' sound. So history was pronounced 'istoria' (and still is in Greek), same as 'hotel' in French or 'herb' in parts of the US (it's a herb here in Aus not an 'erb). The myth of 'an' before these words, however, continues to be perpetuated by journalists worldwide. They also do things such as use Latin endings like Octopi, which most modern editors have also let go in favour of Octopuses. It makes reading the newspapers rather frustrating for book editors! ;)

But, after all, we speak and write English, not Latin or Greek, so the conventions of our language should surely come before those of others (especially when some of them are hangovers from ancient Greek, not even modern Greek!). The same argument (that we don't speak Latin) makes split infinitives less of a major grammar boo-boo than some old pedants will admit.
 

dpaterso

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I find myself typing "an" before some h-words like "hotel" 'cause that's what the teacher told us many moons ago. Damned if I can figure out the logic.

Google: when do you use "an" before h

-Derek
 

jaksen

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If you pronounce the 'h' sound like 'huh', you use a. A house. A horse. A history book.

If you do not pronounce the h, or it's silent, you use an. An herb garden. (In New England, most of us do not pronounce the h in herb.)

That's how I was taught in a New England high school, but I can see from the posts, there's a lot of variety here. It probably is a practice in flux, or in the process of change. A hundred years from now we'll all get it right.
 

PinkAmy

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"I'm an historian."

Funny, but that sounds correct to me (and it is), but if I was speaking I'd probably mistakenly say it wrong "I'm a historian." I'm better at hearing mistakes than avoiding making my own, LOL. Fortunately, since I'm not in the field, most people probably wouldn't notice in speech ;).
 

Maryn

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I was a horrible mother. This was once taped to the mirror in our kids' bathroom, during their high school years. They learned a lot of stuff from that mirror.

Naturally there's a rule, although it's seldom taught in the US. (And like a lot of so-called rules, this one is slowly changing, becoming less enforced in business and academia, ordinarily the final bastions of grammar rules.)

Native American-English speakers rarely use an before an H-word in casual conversation, and I expect the practice will be considered a quaint eccentricity before I'm dead. It’s already limited in spoken English in the US to those whose speaking style could be considered elevated or even pompous.

The rule is that for an H-word to be preceded by an, it must have all of the following:
--an unpronounced H (words like hour, heir, honest, honorable, honorific, herb, but not house, hair, honing, horrible, harp);
--if three or more syllables, the primary accent on the second syllable ( heroic, historic, historical, horrific, hysterical, etc., but not heroism, highlander, hillbilly, horrible, hospital, humanitarian, or hysterectomy);
--the role of a noun or an adjective immediately before a noun, so an article (a, an or the) can naturally precede it (which excludes however);
--the ability to accept the indeterminate article (the one that isn’t the) because it means a specific one, which leaves out humanity); and
--a formal or academic context, usually. Most US newspapers' and magazines' style standards have long-since dropped an H-word usage.
 
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Jamesaritchie

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I was a horrible mother. This was once taped to the mirror in our kids' bathroom, during their high school years. They learned a lot of stuff from that mirror.

Naturally there's a rule, although it's seldom taught in the US. (And like a lot of so-called rules, this one is slowly changing, becoming less enforced in business and academia, ordinarily the final bastions of grammar rules.)

Native American-English speakers rarely use an before an H-word in casual conversation, and I expect the practice will be considered a quaint eccentricity before I'm dead. It’s already limited in spoken English in the US to those whose speaking style could be considered elevated or even pompous.

The rule is that for an H-word to be preceeded by an, it must have all of the following:
--a pronounced H (ruling out words like hour, heir, honest, honorable, honorific, herb, herbalist);
--three or more syllables;
--a primary accent on the second syllable ( heroic, historic, historical, horrific, hysterical, etc., but not heroism, highlander, hillbilly, horrible, hospital, humanitarian, or hysterectomy);
--the role of a noun or an adjective immediately before a noun, so an article (a, an or the) can naturally precede it (which excludes however);
--the ability to accept the indeterminate article (the one that isn’t the) because it means a specific one, which leaves out humanity); and
--a formal or academic context, usually. Most US newspapers' and magazines' style standards have long-since dropped an H-word usage.

Guess we know different people. I don't really know anyone who doesn't use the rule properly in casual conversation.
 

LynnKHollander

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People pronounce it h(hard H)erb? I thought that was a proper name, Herbie the Love Bug. The spice, I thought, was always, (h)erb.
~~No, not always. I find it a bit jarring, but both are used. Also, in compounds, it's 'Herbicide', no options listed.
 

Marlys

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I would tape this on the mirror:

Such forms as "an historical study" or "an union" are not idiomatic in American English. Before a pronounced h, long u (or eu), and such a word as one, the indefinite article should be a
--Chicago Manual of Style
 

PinkAmy

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I am in awe of the grammar knowledge some of you have. I'm learning so much!
 

Maryn

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Guess we know different people. I don't really know anyone who doesn't use the rule properly in casual conversation.
Sounds like you need to get out more, James, particularly among young educated people. In my experience, the Ph.D.s and lawyers around my age are slightly more likely to use "an H" than their contemporaries who don't have advanced degrees, but they certainly don't all use it.

The younger adults, regardless of education, seem to be letting this rule fall by the wayside. (And they're okay with OK and all right with alright!)

Maryn, horrified
 

Marlys

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Dang newfangled rules. :D

A is used before words beginning with a consonant sound; as, a man, a house, a wonder, a year, a use, a unit, a European. An is used before words beginning with a vowel sound; as, an art, an end, an heir, an hour, an urn.

The learner must particularly note that the use of a or an depends, not on whether the initial letter of the succeeding word is a vowel or a consonant, but a vowel sound or a consonant sound.... Words beginning with the sounded h take a; as, a history; those beginning with h silent take an; as, an honor. The people of England 'drop their h's,' in many instances, where we sound them, and hence use an where we use a: thus they say an historian. American usage sounds the h, and consequently joins a; thus, a historian.
--A Progressive Grammar of the English Tongue, William Swinton, 1874.
 

Chase

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An orrible ell of a mess!
 

whacko

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It's a fairly antiquated system, involving silent h's in pronouciation if I recall. Bare in mind, a vowel will usually follow an H, (haitch but spoken as aitch). Thus an 'otel, a horse etc.

So if you get stuck, say it out loud, see what sounds best. You'll probably be right.

Regards

Whacko
 

LynnKHollander

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OK, I'm confused.
Maryn, did you write the thing you put on your kids' mirror? Or did you find it and think it was right? An goes before everything it says an an doesn't go before. Hour, heir, etc. I have never heard of any of the remaining rules. It must be a piece of fiction.
 
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Marlys

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OK, I'm confused.
Maryn, did you write the thing you put on your kids' mirror? Or did you find it and think it was right? An goes before everything it says an an doesn't go before. Hour, heir, etc. I have never heard of any of the remaining rules. It must be a piece of fiction.

Maybe I can help with the confusion. The underlying rule of all the various grammarians always has to do with how the H is pronounced.

Some go strictly with silent vs. pronounced: an hour, an honor, a historian, a hamster. And since some H-word pronunciations (like herb) vary depending on where you live, a/an usage might differ for the same word in different accents.

The grammarians who came up with Maryn's rule (and similar but not identical versions) argued that when a word beginning with a pronounced H does not have the accent on the first syllable, the aspiration of the initial H is softened. It doesn't disappear completely, but is reduced to where they think it should take 'an' instead of 'a.' Some grammar books insist that these words take the 'an,' and some say they're fine with either 'a' or 'an.'

But it's always based on pronunciation, so there really is logic involved. Does that help?

EDIT: Not sure what she meant about the first part (hour, heir, etc.). That didn't make sense to me either.
 
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jaksen

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In a situation where there is so much disagreement (even dissension) among the experts, among experienced writers, and even among the experts' texts, this is a case of things changing and evolving...

Don't worry about it so much.