# "An historic," rationale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608 "2008-11-07T07:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KnitWit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@KnitWit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KnitWit)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/21 "2008-11-07T23:29:53Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Unless people also write it that way; choosing which article to use is a question of grammar then. Right. I’m a professional writer. The word “an” only comes before words that start with vowels. History does not start with a vowel. So any written material that contains “an historic” is incorrect as far as I’m concerned. This is a pet peave of mine. I expect spoken language to evolve, contain errors that people wouldn’t use when they write. But then, I don’t spend much of my day fixing peoples’ spoken language. ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/22 "2008-11-07T23:45:11Z")
If it starts with a vowel it’s “an” If it starts with a consonant it’s “a” You people are loosing your minds 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/23 "2008-11-07T23:55:27Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > Right. I’m a professional writer. The word “an” only comes before words that start with vowels. History does not start with a vowel. So any written material that contains “an historic” is incorrect as far as I’m concerned. Vowel _sounds_. After all, “hour” starts with a consonant, and it’s “an hour,” not “a hour.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/24 "2008-11-07T23:59:51Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Unless people also write it that way; choosing which article to use is a question of grammar then. _A_ and _an_ are the same (indefinite) article. You choose which one based on how you pronounce the noun which follows. It’s not about grammar, but rather pronunciation, and therefore, phonology. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/25 "2008-11-08T00:03:47Z")
If it starts with a vowel **sound** it takes “an”: It’s **an** honor to meet you. If it starts with a consonant **sound** it takes “a”: That’s **a** useful skill to have. This rule applies in both speech and writing. Those of you who were not taught to say “an 'istoric” are welcome to think it sounds odd, but please get off your high horses in proclaiming it an affectation. While that may be true in some cases, there are plenty of us who grew up saying it that way, find it flows more naturally in speech, and in no way are trying to affect anything. It’s just one of those things that is done differently in different places. From [here:](http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html) One tricky case comes up from time to time: is it “a historic occasion” or “an historic occasion”? Some speakers favor the latter — more British than American speakers, but you’ll find them in both places — using an on longish words (three or more syllables) beginning with h, where the first syllable isn’t accented. They’d say, for instance, “a hístory textbook” (accent on the first syllable) but “an históric event.” (Likewise “a hábit” but “an habítual offender,” “a hýpothetical question” but “an hypóthesis.”) Still, most guides prefer a before any h that’s sounded: “a historic occasion,” “a hysterical joke,” “a habitual offender” — but “an honor” and “an hour” because those h’s aren’t sounded. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/26 "2008-11-08T00:33:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Vowel _sounds_. After all, “hour” starts with a consonant, and it’s “an hour,” not “a hour.” I prefer to distinguish the two forms of language by saying, “vowel” vs. “vowel _letter_.” After all, humans _speak_ language naturally. Writing is unnatural, artifice. So if you ask me **how many vowels there are in English** , I’ll tell you at least 21, perhaps more, depending on how you want to view R-coloring and things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/27 "2008-11-08T04:27:09Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Those of you who were not taught to say “an 'istoric” are welcome to think it sounds odd, but please get off your high horses in proclaiming it an affectation. Perhaps you’d like to review the foregoing posts more carefully. No one said it’s an affectation to say “an 'istoric.” We’re saying it’s an affectation to say “an hhhhhhhhhhhistoric,” which what a lot of American politicians do. > [@](#): > > beginning with h, where the first syllable isn’t accented. It has fuck-all to do with where the accent falls. It has to do with whether the following _H_ is pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/28 "2008-11-08T05:28:04Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Perhaps you’d like to review the foregoing posts more carefully. No one said it’s an affectation to say “an 'istoric.” We’re saying it’s an affectation to say “an hhhhhhhhhhhistoric,” which what a lot of American politicians do. Thanks for clarifying that, I misunderstood. I agree that “an” does not go with a clearly enunciated “h” sound. > [@](#): > > It has fuck-all to do with where the accent falls. It has to do with whether the following _H_ is pronounced. Yes, but whether the “h” is pronounced can be affected by where the accent falls. It wasn’t made clear in that passage, but the point is that when the accent is changed from the first to the second syllable, there is often a tendency to reduce the force of the “h.” In some cases, it can be lost altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/29 "2008-11-08T05:45:49Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > Right. I’m a professional writer. The word “an” only comes before words that start with vowels. History does not start with a vowel. So any written material that contains “an historic” is incorrect as far as I’m concerned. This is a pet **peave** of mine. I expect spoken language to evolve, contain errors that people wouldn’t use when they write. But then, I don’t spend much of my day fixing peoples’ spoken language. And this is one of mine:p ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/30 "2008-11-08T10:04:24Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > This is a pet peave of mine. Me too. The usage is so entrenched we’ll need a peavey to move it. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608/31 "2008-11-08T16:40:50Z")
I don’t understand why we have so many threads on a vs. an. It’s gotta be the easiest rule in English grammar. You simply do what’s easiest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-historic-rationale/471608.md?page=1)