Which indefinite article should be used with the word...

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Question by camelott
Submitted on 3/3/2004
Related FAQ: The alt.usage.english FAQ
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Which indefinite article should be used with the word "historic"? "A historic" or "An historic"?

Answer by Mike Hueber
Submitted on 5/16/2004
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INDEFINITE ARTICLE A / AN Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels), 'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) Examples: A boy An apple A car An orange A house An opera NOTE: An before an h mute - an hour, an honour. A before u and eu when they sound like 'you': a european, a university, a unit.

Answer by Dave@Staffs
Submitted on 11/8/2006
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I have been led to believe that words that begin with 'h'; that are derived from Greek roots (such as holistic, hotel etc) should be preceded by 'an' and not 'a' as the Greek alphabet does not include a letter for 'h', they believing it to be merely and intake of breath before the vowel. The word would thus (originally) begin with a vowel and merit the use of 'an'

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