[Grammar] a university student

[dkyeung]

From gramma book , "an" should be use before words with first letter with vowels (aeiou) , e.g. an egg , an umbrella .

But I just read "a university student" , "a duck egg" . It confuse me . What is the rule for use of "a" and "an" for words such as "university student / university uniform / duck egg / eagle egg / vanilla ice-cream" . Thanks for your help in advance .

 

[Raymott]

From gramma book , "an" should be use before words with first letter with vowels (aeiou) , e.g. an egg , an umbrella .

But I just read "a university student" , "a duck egg" . It confuse me . What is the rule for use of "a" and "an" for words such as "university student / university uniform / duck egg / eagle egg / vanilla ice-cream" . Thanks for your help in advance .

No, "an" should be used before a vowel sound. 'University' starts with a consonant sound - /j/. "duck" starts with a consonant sound too, so you use "a".
Think about the reason for the rule, and it might make more sense to you.

Does your grammar book really say that?

 

[dkyeung]

Dear Raymott ,

Thanks for your instruction . I am Chinese . I don't know the meaning of vowels sound in the past , expect aeiou . Now I get some idea . Thank you .

 

[Tdol]

It's affected by the word that follows it:

An ice-cream
A vanilla ice-cream

And if you add an adjective that starts with a vowel sound, you do the opposite and change a to an:

A book
An excellent book