# 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:** 2
**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, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/21 "2007-03-24T14:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=Stratocaster] BTW, perhaps that’s not the British convention. That’s the rule I am aware of, Yankee that I am. [/QUOTE] Could be a regional variation. In Texas, we were told it was a British usage. Of course, I don’t think we even saw it as children; it would have been maybe in high school or even beyond when we would encounter “an” before anything beginning with an H. ---
**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 24, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/22 "2007-03-24T18:04:46Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] Nobody’s writing ‘istorical’, so that doesn’t matter. The issue is simply with pronunciation [/QUOTE] Yes, my point was that no one’s _saying_ “istorical,” either – 'cause it isn’t a word. Unless you’re a certain kind of British. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/23 "2007-03-24T20:06:40Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] Yes, my point was that no one’s _saying_ “istorical,” either – 'cause it isn’t a word. Unless you’re a certain kind of British. 🙂 [/QUOTE] So: “ **a** herb” or “ **an** herb”? 😉 ---
**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 24, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/24 "2007-03-24T20:15:11Z")
[QUOTE=WotNot] So: “ **a** herb” or “ **an** herb”? 😉 [/QUOTE] Hah! That’s easy: “A Herb (Herb Smith, in this case) picked an herb from the garden.” What? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/25 "2007-03-24T20:18:53Z")
This controversy flared up in 1984, when _Time_ magazine put VP nominee Geraldine Ferraro on the cover with the headline, “A Historic Choice.” The Grammar Police pounced, with many insisting it should have been “An Historic Choice,” but the upshot seemed to be “either is correct,” IIRC. For myself, I would say “An Historic Choice,” but I wouldn’t call the other option wrong. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/26 "2007-03-24T20:22:30Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] This controversy flared up in 1984, when _Time_ magazine put VP nominee Geraldine Ferraro on the cover with the headline, “A Historic Choice.” The Grammar Police pounced, with many insisting it should have been “An Historic Choice,” but the upshot seemed to be “either is correct,” IIRC. For myself, I would say “An Historic Choice,” but I wouldn’t call the other option wrong. [/QUOTE] Interesting! This is what I was wondering, how it would be written, as in part of the title of my research paper. ---
**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 24, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/27 "2007-03-24T20:35:29Z")
[QUOTE=TheBoneyKingofNowhere] Interesting! This is what I was wondering, how it would be written, as in part of the title of my research paper. [/QUOTE] Rest assured that whichever you use, it will not be definitively wrong, but half the people reading it will think it is wrong and some of them will let you know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/28 "2007-03-24T22:33:48Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] Yes, my point was that no one’s _saying_ “istorical,” either – 'cause it isn’t a word. Unless you’re a certain kind of British. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I hugely reduce the “h” when it’s not the primary stressed syllable. So, I’m much closer to saying “istorical” than “historical” but neither is completely accurate. I use “an historical” versus “a horse.” I’m a certain kind of Ohioan. ---
**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 25, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/29 "2007-03-25T04:31:19Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] Hah! That’s easy: “A Herb (Herb Smith, in this case) picked an herb from the garden.” What? [/QUOTE] Yes, where I’m from, the H in “herb” is silent. Although the Brits pronounce it, don’t they? And so do some regions in the US. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/30 "2007-03-25T06:11:11Z")
I’m completely on the “a historical” side in modern American usage. If you aspirate the “h” in “historical,” you should write “a historical.” For whatever reason “an historic day” _really_ grates on my ears, since I don’t know anyone who would say that in their natural speech, except possibly for some Brits I know. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/31 "2007-03-25T06:52:14Z")
Both usages are common, both are understandable- thus both are OK. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/32 "2007-03-25T08:11:45Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] 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.” [/QUOTE] That [reminds me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IzDbNFDdP4) : [QUOTE=Eddie Izzard] you say erb and we say herb… **cause there’s a fucking h in it**! [/QUOTE] ---
**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 25, 2007, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/33 "2007-03-25T08:32:32Z")
[QUOTE=Polerius] That [reminds me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IzDbNFDdP4) : [/QUOTE] Yes, heaven forbid that there would ever be silent letters in English. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/34 "2007-03-25T09:58:38Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Yes, heaven forbid that there would ever be silent letters in English. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] It’s a joke. He’s a comedian. ---
**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 25, 2007, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/35 "2007-03-25T10:11:54Z")
Oh. my bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/36 "2007-03-25T17:59:04Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] (snip) “istorical” isn’t a word. 🙂 [/QUOTE] It is if you woke up this morning and heard the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/37 "2007-03-26T15:29:02Z")
Come to think of it, Shakespeare didn’t write, “An horse, an horse, my kingdom for an horse” in _Richard III_. And he’s had some small influence on English usage over the years… 😉 ---
**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 26, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/38 "2007-03-26T15:50:10Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Come to think of it, Shakespeare didn’t write, “An horse, an horse, my kingdom for an horse” in _Richard III_. And he’s had some small influence on English usage over the years… 😉 [/QUOTE] And come to think of it, “horse” is word with the stress on the first (and only) syllable, so no one would contend the “h” sound should be dropped. :dubious: ---
**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:** [March 26, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/39 "2007-03-26T17:44:29Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] And come to think of it, “horse” is word with the stress on the first (and only) syllable, so no one would contend the “h” sound should be dropped. :dubious: [/QUOTE] So do folks that say “an historical” use “a history” instead of “an history” since the accent is on the first syllable? I would imagine the answer is yes, but I don’t know for sure. ---
**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 26, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233/40 "2007-03-26T19:08:26Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] So do folks that say “an historical” use “a history” instead of “an history” since the accent is on the first syllable? I would imagine the answer is yes, but I don’t know for sure. [/QUOTE] Yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-a-v-an/397233.md?page=3)