A or An?

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Nightmare85

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U is the vowel therefore an URL. suits more...............

No, it's a vowel but not a spoken vowel.
An is only interesting for spoken vowels!!

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Nightmare85

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Why "a"? U i[STRIKE]t[/STRIKE]s a vowel letter.

It is a vowel letter, yes, but not a spoken vowel.
"An" is only used when the following word begins with a spoken vowel.
Give me an A!
Give me a B!
Give me a C!
.
Give me an H! H = [Age] -> spoken
.
Give me a U! U = [You] -> spoken

P.S. Academic? :shock:

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isedehi

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the article 'a' is used for words starting with a consonant sound ( not always a consonant letter) while the article 'an' is used for words starting with a vowel sound (not always a vowel letter). the English language has 5 vowels and 21 consonants from which 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds can be produced.
the letters 'u' and 'h' usually confuse many learners. 'u' has a consonant sound in universal, union and urinate but has a vowel sound in uncle, umpire, until.
As for the letter 'h', it does not have a vowel form but is silent in words like honour, honesty and hour. this way, the vowel sounds start the words making it possess the 'an' article.
U is pronounced /ju/. the consonant sound there attracts the 'a' article.
 

earm15

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Hi Guys! Listen.. The rule for these indefinite articles are:

You use A: When the following word (the one which is after the article) starts with a consonant.

You use AN: When the following word (the one which is after the article) stars with a Vowal (A,E,I,O,U).

Hope this helps!..
Peace! :-D
 

Nightmare85

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cloa513

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Its not even as simple as the word starts with a vowel sound (an) or not (a) though that covers most words. Some h sound words use an, an historical point.
 

apiz

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I am agree with Nightmare85.
Now I understand why this example uses "an".

"The word farm starts with an F".
" A farm is located near the river".

Thanks! My answer is wrong! Haha
 

Nightmare85

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Thanks, apiz :)
Yes, you're right.

Just a hint:
"I [STRIKE]am[/STRIKE] agree.", because agree is a verb and you used the Present tense ;-)

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Tdol

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Its not even as simple as the word starts with a vowel sound (an) or not (a) though that covers most words. Some h sound words use an, an historical point.

An historical should be pronounced with with a silent h, like an hour/heir. Sadly, some think that it is some sort of elevated style to use an and then pronounce the H- it's hypercorrection (and intensely irritating IMO) ;-)
 

Nightmare85

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I think the poll should be changed/fixed whatever.
It only confuses new members because the wrong answer has more votes...

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EngFan

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A university, A URL
 

ackeiyword

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I think it should be "an",because the URL is satrted with the letter U,but actually i see many people use "a",so now i am also confused.
 

Nightmare85

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I think it should be "an",because the URL is satrted with the letter U,but actually i see many people use "a",so now i am also confused.

If you had read the other members' posts, you wouldn't have been confused.
The only true answer is "A URL".
I said it like a hundred times:
It does not matter whether a word starts with a vowel or not.

Please, read this:
https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/frequently-asked-questions/123560-nightmare85s-alphabet.html

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Amal-30

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The correct answer is a.
The letter u is a vowel but in the universal word it sounds as a consonant like when we say a university.
 

Muhammad AZAM

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URL takes 'a' before it because it does not have a vowel sound. although it starts with 'u' a vowel, it doesn't have vowel sound.
 

sana618

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Dear students, "u" is a semi-vowel;this means that sometimes it behaves as a vowel like in "umbrella","ultimatum","underproduction"etc when an"an" is necessary.Other times it behaves like a consonant as in "university","union","unique" when an "a" is needed.Practice will help!;-)

I'm a bit confused here by your post kalli. Please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't 'Y' a semi vowel and 'U' a complete vowel as the 5 vowels of English language are "A,E,I,O,U."
And we say "an umbrella" and "an ultimatum" and while talking about "underproduction" I don't think that we use an or a for ex - The movie we were talking about is underproduction. or The new perfume is still under production.
 

Eden Darien

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An historical should be pronounced with with a silent h, like an hour/heir. Sadly, some think that it is some sort of elevated style to use an and then pronounce the H- it's hypercorrection (and intensely irritating IMO) ;-)

Yup, Some people think I am a posh wannabe.. hehe
 
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