by neufer » Mon Oct 23, 2017 3:14 pm
Wadsworth wrote:Guest3 wrote:
The Galactic Home of a Historic Explosion. NOT AN HISTORIC! An is only used when preceding a word that begins with a vowel sound. For example: An abuse of the English language.
Funny, I read it as 'a' when I read the title, but noticed the author used 'an' shortly thereafter. 'A' is probably best, but either will work.
See:
http://www.betterwritingskills.com/tip-w005.html
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/azar/grammar_ex/message_board/archive/articles/00053.htm wrote:
<<Historically speaking, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Houghton Mifflin, 1996), "an was once a common variant before words beginning with h in which the first syllable was unstressed; thus, 18th-century authors wrote either a historical or an historical but a history, not an history." By 1926, H. W. Fowler (Modern English Usage) regarded the continued use of an before such words as pedantic. Nowadays it survives primarily before the word "historical"; one rarely encounters a reference to "an hysterectomy" or "an hereditary trait."
Apparently using a or an before the h- of the unstressed syllable of a few words is at the discretion of the speaker or writer. Some people say a historic time, others say an historic time; some say a hotel, others say an hotel; some say a hysterical child, others an hysterical child.>>
http://grammartips.homestead.com/historical.html wrote:
A Historical? An Historical?
by Tina Blue
<<The problem is that the h is a bit of a wuss as a consonant. When it occurs in an unaccented syllable and is followed by a vowel, it tends to soften to a vowel-like mushiness.
[N]ow say these words out loud: historian, historical, hysterical, heredity, habitual.
Do you notice how much less, well, pronounced the h is in these words? Now, put a or an before each one (the adjectives should be paired with nouns so you can get the full effect):
- a historian / an historian
a historical reference / an historical reference
a historic occasion / an historic occasion
a hysterical display / an hysterical display
a hereditary disease / an hereditary disease
a habitual liar / an habitual liar
Notice that when you use a before the words, you fully aspirate the h, but when you use an, you do not--and the h sound very nearly disappears into the following vowel.
So here's the general rule.
If you speak and write British English, you can probably keep using an before historical, hysterical, habitual, etc. I doubt that you will be challenged by your own countrymen, and if Americans challenge you, just point out that British usage and American usage often differ.
If you are American, you probably should use a rather than an, even in a historic occasion or a historical reference. Most of us are comfortable with a historic occasion, because the word historic has fewer syllables than historical, so the h is more fully pronounced. But if, like me, you are old enough to find a historical reference a tad uncomfortable, then go ahead and say an historical reference. >>
[quote="Wadsworth"][quote="Guest3"]
The Galactic Home of [size=150][b]a[/b][/size] Historic Explosion. NOT [i]AN[/i] HISTORIC! [i]An[/i] is only used when preceding a word that begins with a vowel sound. For example: An abuse of the English language.[/quote]
Funny, I read it as 'a' when I read the title, but noticed the author used 'an' shortly thereafter. 'A' is probably best, but either will work.
See: [url]http://www.betterwritingskills.com/tip-w005.html[/url][/quote][quote=" http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/azar/grammar_ex/message_board/archive/articles/00053.htm"]
<<Historically speaking, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Houghton Mifflin, 1996), "an was once a common variant before words beginning with h in which the first syllable was unstressed; thus, 18th-century authors wrote either a historical or an historical but a history, not an history." By 1926, H. W. Fowler (Modern English Usage) regarded the continued use of an before such words as pedantic. Nowadays it survives primarily before the word "historical"; one rarely encounters a reference to "an hysterectomy" or "an hereditary trait."
Apparently using a or an before the h- of the unstressed syllable of a few words is at the discretion of the speaker or writer. Some people say a historic time, others say an historic time; some say a hotel, others say an hotel; some say a hysterical child, others an hysterical child.>>[/quote][quote=" http://grammartips.homestead.com/historical.html"]
A Historical? An Historical?
by Tina Blue
<<The problem is that the h is a bit of a wuss as a consonant. When it occurs in an unaccented syllable and is followed by a vowel, it tends to soften to a vowel-like mushiness.
[N]ow say these words out loud: historian, historical, hysterical, heredity, habitual.
Do you notice how much less, well, pronounced the h is in these words? Now, put a or an before each one (the adjectives should be paired with nouns so you can get the full effect):
[list][size=150][color=#0000FF]a historian / an historian
a historical reference / an historical reference
a historic occasion / an historic occasion
a hysterical display / an hysterical display
a hereditary disease / an hereditary disease
a habitual liar / an habitual liar[/color][/size][/list]
Notice that when you use a before the words, you fully aspirate the h, but when you use an, you do not--and the h sound very nearly disappears into the following vowel.
So here's the general rule.
If you speak and write British English, you can probably keep using an before historical, hysterical, habitual, etc. I doubt that you will be challenged by your own countrymen, and if Americans challenge you, just point out that British usage and American usage often differ.
If you are American, you probably should use a rather than an, even in a historic occasion or a historical reference. Most of us are comfortable with a historic occasion, because the word historic has fewer syllables than historical, so the h is more fully pronounced. But if, like me, you are old enough to find a historical reference a tad uncomfortable, then go ahead and say an historical reference. >>[/quote]