correct pronunciation

[Unregistered]

is it an hotel or a hotel

[Barb_D]

For my pronunciation, a hotel.

See this.

[1984law]

is it an hotel or a hotel

Hi,
it is a hotel, and not an hotel, because the h is pronounced as a consonant. You write an apple because the sound you are pronouncing is a vowel so you say an. But you say an honest man, because you don't pronounce the h, the sound you first hear is an o which is a vowel.= an
It all depends on kind of the sound of the word. If the first syllable of your word is pronounced as a vowel, you write an . If the first sound, sounds like a consonant, you write a .
Hope I have been of assistance.

[bhaisahab]

is it an hotel or a hotel

Both are used in BrE.

[ModernDickens]

It is quite a controversial matter, since the stakes are whether the English language must stray from the French, (Dutch and German in other cases) and become a language of its own. At present, old teachers of English in France-or at least some of them- accept both alternatives, basing their judgment on the French roots of the word "hotel". Ignoring the "h" in that case is said to reflect a higher level of education , since in so doing, you're showing that you know about the etymology of the word, blabla and so forth...

Now figures reveal that a great majority of English speakers DO aspire the "h" and use the article "a" to qualify that word. Do they know so little about French ? Far from it. The reason is simply that the word "hotel" ("hôtel" in la langue de Molière) has been taken into the English dictionary where it is now regarded a wholly English word. No-one would bother a minute considering word roots, and sometimes rigthtly so. Effective communication does not require such knowledge.

As far as I am concerned, I advocate diversity and thus approve of both forms. There are obvious GROUNDS for accepting both, so why would be dismiss any of them as improper ?

[Williamyh]

is it an hotel or a hotel

When speak fast, the "h" sound of hotel will be dropped sometimes, so an "otel", but this is an old style english. Modern English should use a hotel....

[raindoctor]

Get this: if you hear a vowel sound, use an; otherwise, a.

a united front: here, even though you see u, but the sound is not a vowel sound, thats why you see the article a.


AFAIK, you dont hear /h/-dropping in hotel. Therefore, "a hotel" would do

[sophie hannon]

so an is only used after a vowel?

[bhaisahab]

so an is only used after a vowel?

"An" is used before a vowel sound.