Can you teachers explain this...

aeiou

all 'an' before

an animal
an eagle
an iglo
an orgle
an unicorn ???????????? it's a unicorn, why?

 

.

.

 

Errrr....

....assuming that post wasn't a wind-up, it depends on the sound the "u" makes.

an - upturn, upset, underpass

a unicorn, uniform, unicycle etc.

 

It's to do with phonemes I think

You pronounce it yoo-nicorn

For some reason that makes a difference to the likes of an umbrella

Not sure why.

 

Its because the u in unicorn is pronounced you nt

 

I know that

but try explaining that to your son when he's learning english.

It's 'an' for aeio. why not for u?

Where's the rule?

 

RE: I know that

The rule is according to pronunciation rather than spelling. So - some words that start with a consonant will be preceeded with "an"

an Yvette (but a yolk)

Explaining any rules regarding English spelling in relation to pronunciation is a complete nightmare anyway as our spelling "system" is a complete mish-mash anyway, so any rule will be followed by god knows how many exceptions. If you're having problems explaining it to your son, spare a thought for me trying to explain it to Russians (it's still easier than explaining the rules of cricket to them mind......)

 

Thanks for that mate

But try telling the teachers they're wrong. My son got 38,5 out of 39 in his english test last week. He wrote a unicorn, the teacher said it is an unicorn.

 

an (h)otel nt

 

you what?

a hotel.

 

got it now

see how the dialect screws everything up

 

RE: got it now

aye but it is an hotel... crazy though !!

 

Are you sure?

I slept in a hotel last night.
I slept in an hotel last night.


(chinny)

 

Either's correct...

'An' in front of H is mostly just seen in print. Same deal with "a(n) history" and several others.

 

are you sure ? nt

 

Yep. Seems bizarre, but I remember researchin it. nt