Absolutely. I’m not saying that no words with a sounded “h” take “an”, simply that it’s incorrect to say that all of them do in British English. “An historic” is one that you will still hear quite frequently, in fact I think most BBC newsreaders use it.
The Wikipedia article on “a and an” says:
“Some British dialects (for example, Cockney) silence all initial “h’s” and so employ “an” all the time: e.g., “an 'elmet”.”
Perhaps this is where the confusion arises.
I agree. Occasions where the writer wrote ‘an’ before what we consider a ‘hard h’ were probably instances where the writer’s own speech would have pronounced it with a silent or at least soft h, thereby not violating the rule.
OK. The team in general has now accepted the rule as we have stated it here. The gentleman in particular has acknowledged (sp) my points, but will stick with what he was taught.
There is no “rule” nor (in English) any body of dudes in authority to make a “rule”.
It’s (now) “usage.” In the case of an abbreviation where the ab. doesn’t start with an vowel- either “a” or “an” are used. Neither sound awkward or wrong. So, it’s either “a FBI agent” or “an FBI agent”. However, note that the general usage tends towards “an” only for vowels. I also lean towards “a” as “an” is something that can be phased out of the English lanaguage without any loss. Especially the “h” variation. :rolleyes:
Dear diary. Meant to leave house, but instead walked into cupboard this morning, stayed there for eight hours, too proud to admit my mistake.
If its capitalized (URL) it’s a “you-are-ell”.
If not (url), it’s an url.
I use both.
::SHRUG:: There may be no “body of dudes in authority” but to quote the site in my OP
both spelling and grammar have common usages that are commonly refered to as rules and we all understand what is meant when the word *rule *is used. Some nits aren’t worth picking
True, and if everyone- or even almost everyone does it one way, you can say “it’s a rule”. But in the case of something like this, there is no rule. Either way works.