A and An

P

Pollux V

Ra Bless America
Registered Senior Member
I've been perplexed by this for awhile but I haven't really been filled with enough enthusiasm to unravel this question:

What is the difference between A and An? I know that it sounds right in various situations to say either one, but I have no idea why you say either, that is, grammatically speaking.

I have a tomato.

I had a tomato.

I will have a tomato.

Okay. So it doesn't have to do with tense.

An approach<-I've had a brain cramp so this is the only sentence with an an that I could think of. Arghghh!

Damnit. I'm stuck.
 
You use "an" before words beginning with a vowel or a soft "h". Otherwise use "a".
 
I know! I know! I just found the definition on dictionary.com, I looked there before I posted this thread but I didn't scroll all the way down! My life is changed! It's amazing, I don't think I'll stop thinking about this until...well...I forget it. But that'll be awhile from now.

Seriously I'm giddy. Giddy.

Yowweee! I love it! An is awesome!
 
Call nothing thy own except thy soul.
Love not what thou art, but only what thou may become.
Do not pursue pleasure, for thou may have the misfortune to overtake it.
Look always forward; in last year's nest there are no birds this year.
Be just to all men. Be courteous to all women.
Live in the vision of that one for whom great deeds are done ... She that is called Dulcinea.
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Note the way the author wrote this lyric from The Man Of La Mancha: "Call nothing thy own except thy soul." He really should have used "thine" before a word beginning with a vowel, not "thy". But it still rocks.
 
chroot,

But where's the magic behind it all? I can now say that I have felt the thrill of discovery.
 
Adam,

I haven't read Don Quixote yet. I intend to, though. Last year in spanish we learned about it and Cervantes, we also watched the movie they made with...John Lithgow I think....? I thought it was awful but one of my friends loved it so much that they actually bought it.

I brought home a little mexican statue thingy from, you guessed it, mexico, and I named it Cervantes.

That has nothing to do with the topic. Such is life...
 
I bought Independence Day on video when it first came out. It has two spoken errors which I would like to point out.

The first is when the general or whever he is telle the president they will lose all their cities in 36 hours. He says the word "caticlate" instead of "calculate". This I find very funny.

The second is just as Will Smith releases the parachute from his plane, and says "I hope you got a airbag", instead of "an airbag". That one I find annoying. Actually this mistake has become very common on American TV shows and movies, which I why I point it out.
 
Basically you are smart if you use an before words beginning with vowel. If you consider yourself stupid then just use a.
 
I normally use an. Sometimes a. I find it hard not to type out "Aint" and "Yall." I just have to include these in every sentence, do yall understand that?

Also I type tomatoe sometimes...:(

Its the country in me.
 
I love it when people say things like "an historical event." I think it is the sign of a well-read person (especially when they are American because people do not seem to read here very much:)). Like when Chakotay (Robert Beltran) on Voyager said "an" before some H word on the show--something I know the writers would not have him do because they always get it wrong with every other character--I knew that he must be very well read to just "slip" that into the script. I was quite overcome. Probably one of the few times I was overcome by something in a Voyager episode.
 
Evalina,

You silly thing:p

Its the country in me.
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Counsler, if you don't want to be a kentunckyian, then don't be a kentuckyian. Just because you live there does not mean you are one of them. I live in Maine, yet when I move through the hallways I don't shout the noise of a diesel engine, nor do I scratch my balls every other second. There are probably zeitgeists of your area that you don't follow, just because they are there does not mean that they apply to everyone.

note: zeitgeist is the only word I can think of, I don't care if it was correctly used. So f*ck off!

Av,

I've had enough of your bullcrap:D
 
Counsler, if you don't want to be a kentunckyian, then don't be a kentuckyian. Just because you live there does not mean you are one of them. I live in Maine, yet when I move through the hallways I don't shout the noise of a diesel engine, nor do I scratch my balls every other second. There are probably zeitgeists of your area that you don't follow, just because they are there does not mean that they apply to everyone.
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Pollux,

Its KentuckIAN. No "Y" in it. Its hard to not type like a Kentuckian, believe me, if we ever met then you would know why. Just ponder this, GEET. Find out what GEET is and that'll explain a lot. Also we put 'LL at the end of a lot of stuff.

Oh and its always Coke and never pepsi.
 
Does anyone else think this thread sounds like an episode of sesame street? :D:D
 
Rather like French. C'est "l'hibou", pas "le hibou", parce que le "h" est silente. C'est "le gateau", parce que c'est masculine et c'est une consonne devant, mais quand tu decris un objet qui a une h silente, tu le remplaces parce qu'il y a une voyelle. Par exemple, "Il est un bel abbe", pas "Il est un beau abbe", simplement parce que les voyelles ne matchent pas, est c'est tres difficile a prononce.

Right? :D

Translation: It is the owl, not the owl, because the 'h' is silent. It is the cake, because it is masculine and it is a consonant in front, but when you describe an object who has a silent h, you replace it because of the vowel. For example, He is a handsome priest, not he is a handsome priest, simply because the vowels do not match, and it is very difficult to pronounce.

(btw, :eek: for slaughtering the French language with the abscences of accents and bad grammar and all)
 
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