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Message board > Grammar Correction:
Grammar Correction:
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nabeera_nasar
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Grammar Correction:
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Do We use "an"before a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). OR before a vowel sound |
2 Jul 2012
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yanogator
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"An" before a vowel sound.
an apple
an hour
an honest man
"A" before a consonant sound, even if the letter is a vowel:
a user �s manual
a useful product
Bruce |
2 Jul 2012
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nabeera_nasar
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Thank you, Bruce. You are always helpful. |
2 Jul 2012
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MoodyMoody
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And an before a vowel sound, even if the letter is a consonant: an hour, an honest woman.
Now words beginning with a, e, i, and o always begin with a vowel sound. H is the only consonant that is silent at the beginning of a word before a vowel. So the only letters you need to concern yourself with are the u and the h. If the u word begins with a y sound, such as Bruce �s examples or university, use a. If the h is silent at the beginning of a word, use an. |
2 Jul 2012
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shifaniya
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Also be careful when you see abbreviations starting with consonant letters such as
" RC church (Roman Catholic), LTTE terrorist. These abbreviations though start with consonants are followed by "an" e.g. An RC church, An LTTE terrorsts.
Likewise we use "a" even before vowel letters in case of abbreviations such as "A US soldier" " A UN spokesman" |
3 Jul 2012
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yanogator
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I agree with shifaniya, but I have one thing to add. Some people would write "a RC church", expecting you to read it as "a Roman Catholic church". It is good for you to be aware of this, because you might see it sometimes.
Bruce |
3 Jul 2012
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t.javanshir
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Hi,
We use it before a vowel sound, that �s why we say "an MP3 player."
But I have a question: why do we say "an SUV" but a sports utility vehicle??
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3 Jul 2012
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Zora
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Hi there,
We say "an SUV" because the letter "s" is pronounced like this "es" - therefore it �s a vowel sound at the beginning.
There are more letter like that - "an F", "an H", "an R" - their "names"( if you want to call it) all start with vowel sounds.
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3 Jul 2012
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yanogator
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To add to what Linda said about SUV, it �s because we say the three letters (ess-yoo-vee), rather than pronouncing SUV as if it were a word.
Bruce |
3 Jul 2012
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