Grammar/help
Forum > English only || BottomMessage from nathanielcole posted on 26-02-2021 at 19:10:50 (D | E | F)
Is it ok for me to say a hour? Or is it supposed to still be an hour?
I also know that you are supposed to put "an" in front of a vowel, but you never hear someone say an unicycle or any other word that starts with the letter "u". How come?
Please reply back, because I really need help with grammar.
Re: Grammar/help from gerondif, posted on 26-02-2021 at 19:34:34 (D | E)
Hello
You have to put "an" in front of a vowel SOUND.
Sometimes, it is also at the same time a vowel LETTER :
an apple [], an ape [] an island [], an idiot [i], an old dog [], an otter [] an elephant [e], an eight [] an uneasy situaton [ni:zi], an ultimate decision. What counts is the sound the letter or syllable makes. The same letter can have different prononciations, like an []alibi, an a [], an r [a:r]
But y has a consonant sound at the beginning of a word, [j], so we say a yellow car.[jel]
U can be pronounced [ju:], so a consonant sound to begin with, a [ju:]uniform (but an [] uncomfortable uniform)
a hero but an heir [n] because the h is mute. Same thing for an hour [n]
Re: Grammar/help from nathanielcole, posted on 26-02-2021 at 19:47:33 (D | E)
ok thanks
Forum > English only