Toodles008
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Is it "a" or "an" before University?
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[Essay] Pronunciation
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The Maltese Falcon
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It would be "a University".
Although commonly 'a' would come before a word starting with a consonant, in this the case the 'U' in university is pronounced as a long vowel (yew), which on the phonetic chart would be a j. Another example of this would be 'a unit of measure.' This is contrary to say, 'an umbrella', as the 'u' in umbrella is a short vowel.
I hope this helps!
Although commonly 'a' would come before a word starting with a consonant, in this the case the 'U' in university is pronounced as a long vowel (yew), which on the phonetic chart would be a j. Another example of this would be 'a unit of measure.' This is contrary to say, 'an umbrella', as the 'u' in umbrella is a short vowel.
I hope this helps!
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It is based on the sound, not the type of letter:
a university/an umbrella
a European/an egg
(Both the words with a begin with a consonant sound- /j/)
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