a versus an

A Versus An

Use “a” before words beginning with a consonant (hard) sound.

Use “an” before words beginning with a vowel (soft) sound.

Tip:

► Sound out the word that will follow the “a” or “an” to decide which one is correct to use.

► People are often confused by the choice between “a” or “an” before acronyms such as “NHI.”

Sound out the acronym and follow the basic rule: for example, write “an NHI”, “a BMW”, “an SEC”, “a B and B”, “an MBA”, “an FBI”, “a historical”, “a humble”, “a hypothetical”.

Back to ProblemWords, Site Map, Home-Index

Copyright © 2007 Donna K. Reeder

"An" + "Historical"

American English does not use “an” before “historical” or other words starting with an "h" that is sounded. “A” is correct, just as an American would not say “an harvest,”“an home,” etc.

“An" with honest” is correct, because the “h” is not sounded.

Using “an" with "historical” will make you look pompous to many readers.