# Grammar Question: A v An **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233 "2007-03-23T19:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/1 "2007-03-23T19:36:02Z")
Quick question, probably GQ, but whatever. Grammatically, which of the following is correct: A) “Interesting topic: An Historical Analysis” B) “Interesting topic: A Historical Analysis” ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/2 "2007-03-23T19:39:01Z")
[QUOTE=TheBoneyKingofNowhere] Quick question [/QUOTE] I see you’re new to grammar threads. > [@](#): > > Grammatically, which of the following is correct: > > A) “Interesting topic: An Historical Analysis” > B) “Interesting topic: A Historical Analysis” I had a nitpicky history professor (who proofread other people’s theses to put himself through grad school) who would insist on option A. Now, it’s only a matter of time before the discussion breaks down into a grammar brawl! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/3 "2007-03-23T20:12:12Z")
I cannot imagine the reasoning behind ever choosing option A. The proper pronunciation of “historical” involves the starting “h,” therefore it is always “a historical.” At least, it is in any document that _I_ edit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/4 "2007-03-23T20:14:15Z")
Unlike almost everything else in English, the matter of “a” vs. “an” is based solely on pronunciation. If you’re one of the weirdos who insists on not pronouncing the “H” in “historic,” then use “an.” If you’re a normal person, then use “a.” ---
**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:** [March 23, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/5 "2007-03-23T20:17:57Z")
Choice A is traditional. Words that begin with an “h” that is normally sounded, but are not accented on the first syllable, are preceded by “an” rather than by “a” and lose the “h” sound in doing so. Thus, “an historical” is pronounced as if it were “an istorical.” Choice B is not necessarily wrong, and is becoming more common as less people are taught the traditional rule. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/6 "2007-03-23T20:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] I cannot imagine the reasoning behind ever choosing option A. [/QUOTE] As with many things in language, it’s because “an istorical” rolls off the tongue more easily than “a **h** istorical.” ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/7 "2007-03-23T20:25:26Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] As with many things in language, it’s because “an istorical” rolls off the tongue more easily than “a **h** istorical.” [/QUOTE] But as with many things in grammar, what rolls off the tongue best isn’t necessarily _right_. It might be easier to drop the “h,” but “istorical” isn’t a word. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NJ\_Kef\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b487fb/32.png) [@NJ\_Kef\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ_Kef_1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/8 "2007-03-23T21:34:21Z")
I say and feel comfortable saying: “an historical analysis.” I pronounce the “h” when I say: “the historical analysis.” Why can’t “a historical” and “an historical” both be correct? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/9 "2007-03-23T23:58:47Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] I see you’re new to grammar threads. Now, it’s only a matter of time before the discussion breaks down into a grammar brawl! [/QUOTE] And/or somebody links to [previous](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284730) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315786) in which the question has already been extensively brawled over. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/10 "2007-03-24T00:51:42Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] But as with many things in grammar, what rolls off the tongue best isn’t necessarily _right_. It might be easier to drop the “h,” but “istorical” isn’t a word. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Nobody’s writing ‘istorical’, so that doesn’t matter. The issue is simply with pronunciation; ‘an historical’ is correct if you don’t pronounce the ‘h’, and ‘a historical’ is correct otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/11 "2007-03-24T12:20:06Z")
\>because “an istorical” rolls off the tongue more easily OK, now, in what conceivable scenario is somebody who’s driven by what’s easy to roll off the tongue going to be talking about historical analyses? Shouldn’t the sentence begin with “How about those Steelers?” ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/12 "2007-03-24T12:23:01Z")
I use “an” when writing “historical” or “hotel”, but I only do it to annoy people. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/13 "2007-03-24T12:55:43Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] Choice A is traditional. Words that begin with an “h” that is normally sounded, but are not accented on the first syllable, are preceded by “an” rather than by “a” and lose the “h” sound in doing so. Thus, “an historical” is pronounced as if it were “an istorical.” Choice B is not necessarily wrong, and is becoming more common as less people are taught the traditional rule. [/QUOTE] I heard that the “an” usage is pretentious. That said, I also heard that there is no right or wrong to the “a” / “an” question. Now…that may be an old book that I found it in, but that’s how it was at one time. Sorry, no cite. I prefer the traditional “an” in front of vowel-sounding words. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/14 "2007-03-24T12:58:41Z")
Even when pronouncing the “h” sound, “a historical” sounds odd unless you make the “a” long. “Ay historical.” ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/15 "2007-03-24T12:58:41Z")
Anecdotally speaking, British sources seem more like to write ‘an historical’ and American sources ‘a historical’. But like so much else in grammar, people are very upset by the idea that there is no right answer. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/16 "2007-03-24T13:01:04Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I prefer the traditional “an” in front of vowel-sounding words. [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure everyone who has a clue does. The real debate ends up being whether “historical” has an initial vowel sound or consonant, and that just depends on your own regional dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/17 "2007-03-24T13:24:14Z")
I generally use “a” while recognizing that this is largely a British versus American English matter. But would even the Brits say “an hysterectomy”? I think I read once that the British usage came from Cockney’s droping the H all the time at the beginning of words, but that sounds like an Urban Legend. Any truth to that? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/18 "2007-03-24T13:27:38Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I think I read once that the British usage came from Cockney’s droping the H all the time at the beginning of words, but that sounds like an Urban Legend. Any truth to that? [/QUOTE] I believe it’s the other way round: Cockneys retain an English pronunciation usage that crept in from the French court, where for French speakers the leading “h” is difficult to pronounce. It was extremely “trendy” in Restoration times to sound French - and this is also the explanation for our reticence in pronouncing trailing “r” sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/19 "2007-03-24T13:28:27Z")
Or how about “an hot-air balloon”? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/20 "2007-03-24T14:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I generally use “a” while recognizing that this is largely a British versus American English matter. But would even the Brits say “an hysterectomy”? [/QUOTE] If the accent’s on the first syllable, it’s “a.” Other than that, it’s “an.” A hysterectomy. An historical novel. A highball. An habitual liar. As Gary T pointed out, I think using “a” in every instance is becoming acceptable usage. Sort of like splitting an infinitive–an offense that once made pedantic composition professors break out in hives upon reading, now not so much. BTW, perhaps that’s not the British convention. That’s the rule I am aware of, Yankee that I am. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233.md?page=2)