A or An Historic .... What Say You?

[Gugny]

... historic chain of events.

 

Do you begin that phrase with "A" or "An?"

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Gugny

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Depends how breathy I am when enunciating 'history'.  

[Gugny]

10 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Depends how breathy I am when enunciating 'history'.  

 

I know you were trying (A for effort) to be funny, but you actually brought up a good point.

 

If the phrase is "... history lesson," I would say "a history lesson."

 

But with "historic," I use "an."

[teef]

i assume the rules are the same that you use "a" when the next letter starts with a consonant.  that being said, it may be that both are acceptable at this point.  at one point i was an ace with grammar.  it's weird.  graduate school ruined me in many ways.

[Gugny]

12 minutes ago, teef said:

i assume the rules are the same that you use "a" when the next letter starts with a consonant.  that being said, it may be that both are acceptable at this point.  at one point i was an ace with grammar.  it's weird.  graduate school ruined me in many ways.

 

i think both are acceptable and grammatically correct.  Truly one's personal preference.

[snafu]

You use "A".

The "h" in "historic" isn't silent unless you're Eliza Doolittle.

 

[WhoTom]

It depends on how pretentious my audience is. The same goes for the pronunciations of "niche" (nitch /neesh) and homage (AHmij/ohMAHZH).

 

 

[Gugny]

13 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

It depends on how pretentious my audience is. The same goes for the pronunciations of "niche" (nitch /neesh) and homage (AHmij/ohMAHZH).

 

 

 

I pronounced homage "HAHmij," and was quickly "corrected," by a co-worker.  She turned around and asked, "do you mean ohMAHZH?" to which I quickly responded, "No.  I said HAHmij and I meant to say HAHmij."

 

Skank.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

19 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

I pronounced homage "HAHmij," and was quickly "corrected," by a co-worker.  She turned around and asked, "do you mean ohMAHZH?" to which I quickly responded, "No.  I said HAHmij and I meant to say HAHmij."

 

Skank.

If 45 had been invited back, I bet you would have been a diplomat. 😁

[BringBackFergy]

Why not just say “monumental” and avoid the confusion? 
 

Oh, I see who started this thread. Forget it. 
 

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

OR.  What say ye.  It's: "What say ye?"

 

 

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

 

I pronounced homage "HAHmij," and was quickly "corrected," by a co-worker.  She turned around and asked, "do you mean ohMAHZH?" to which I quickly responded, "No.  I said HAHmij and I meant to say HAHmij."

 

Skank.

 

 

[LeGOATski]

A historic...

 

A historical...

 

A historically...

[ExiledInIllinois]

From Mr.Webster:

 

"If the word begins with a vowel sound, use an, such as in "an honorable man," and with spoken acronyms like "an FBI agent." Words like historic, with a pronounced "H," can use either a or an. In the eternal, and generally fruitless, quest to find some way to make English make sense, many people look for simple rules to apply to our language.

 

 

[US Egg]

Is being called 'an a' proper?

[Draconator]

I asked my literacy center owner wife, and she says "A". Think like you're reading in a book, "That is a historic passage" was the example. "A" is a more common usage.

[Gugny]

44 minutes ago, Draconator said:

I asked my literacy center owner wife, and she says "A". Think like you're reading in a book, "That is a historic passage" was the example. "A" is a more common usage.

 

I feel like I used "A" for most of my life, but realized in recent years that I've transitioned to "An."  Now using, "A," feel very weird to me.

[ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin]

Sister Mary Lou beat me with a ruler to reinforce that 'An' precedes a vowel. The 'A' or 'An' as acceptable before 'h' could have saved my knuckles much pain....

 

We are reaching a historical milestone' sounds right.

 

yet

 

'I completed that ticket a hour ago' sounds like a rube.

[ExiledInIllinois]

What say ye?

 

A utility...

 

AN utility...

 

 

It does break the "vowel rule."

 

 

1 hour ago, ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin said:

Sister Mary Lou beat me with a ruler to reinforce that 'An' precedes a vowel. The 'A' or 'An' as acceptable before 'h' could have saved my knuckles much pain....

 

We are reaching a historical milestone' sounds right.

 

yet

 

'I completed that ticket a hour ago' sounds like a rube.

You should have shived Sister Scary Mary Lou win A utility knife! 

 

😉 

[The Jokeman]

A, as I always thought an was reserved for words starting with a vowel sound.