THE WORD DOCTOR
1/15/07 - A, An, and H

Dear Word Doctor,

What is the rule with using a or an with an h word? Is it a dialect rule?

-Anita

Yes.

What? That answer's not good enough? Fine....

The general rule of usage is that you use a before an initial consonant sound and an before an initial vowel sound. The same applies to words beginning with h.

Huh? You want more?

All right, when the h sound is pronounced you use a (a historic event). If you happen to be articulating in a Dick Van Dyke-esque cockney accent -- and, therefore, dropping the initial h sound -- you say it with an (an historic event), and it would probably look something like an 'istoric event if you were to write it out.

But that's not all! Many "sophisticated" people seem to have gotten it into their grandiloquent heads that "an historical" (with the initial h articulated) sounds utterly fabulous and should be used at every opportunity. It is not proper; however, many people accept it, and you can probably get away with it.

A word of warning: every time you improperly place an in front of historic (or any other h-word), God kills something cute and cuddly. So tread lightly.

Till next time.

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