In our never-ending quest to sound educated and literate (well, except for the people who don’t even try—a pity, too, since they are the ones most in need of this blog), we occasionally misremember an absolute grammar rule that turns out to be not so absolute.
Case in point: When it comes to “a vs. an,” we all know the rule that you use “a” before words starting with consonants and “an” before words starting with vowels, right? Wrong! This “truth” is actually a misconception. The real rule isn’t about consonants or vowels, but about consonant or vowel SOUNDS.
Let’s take a question my photographer friend Jill once posed as an example: Are you supposed to use “a” or “an” before the word “one”?
Applying the correct version of the rule, we see that even though “one” starts with a vowel letter, it actually starts with a consonant sound (“w”). Therefore, it takes “a” instead of “an.” So Jill’s photography customers will be entitled to “a” one-hour portrait session. Easy!
Acronyms
Acronyms are a common tripper-upper on this “a vs. an” rule. Let’s look at the specific case of acronyms where you say each letter individually (more correctly called an initialism, but that’s a subject for a different post) instead of pronouncing it as a word.
Example: “an FBI investigation” takes “an” even though it precedes a consonant, because when you pronounce F as a letter, it starts with a vowel sound (“ef”). So… “a” federal investigation, but “an” FBI investigation.
(I don’t know about you, but I certainly hope I’m never the subject of a federal investigation or an FBI investigation!)
The silent H
Another tricky one is the silent H in words like “honor” and “hour.” These words start with a consonant, but since it’s silent, the first sound is a vowel. Thus you would use “an honor” or “an hour” rather than “a honor” or “a hour.”
But in words where the initial H is pronounced, we use “a,” as in “a hat” or “a house” or “a home.”
And just to confuse things a little further, there are some H words where it depends on your accent! For instance, take the word “historic.” If you pronounce the H (more common in the US), you would celebrate “a” historic event. But if you drop the H (more common in the UK), you would celebrate “an” historic event.
Conversely, the word “herb” is pronounced “a” herb in the UK (with the H) and “an” herb in the US (no H—unless you are referring to your friend Herb, short for Herbert, but hopefully in that case he’s THE Herb and not just “a” Herb among many). Confusing, right? No one ever accused English speakers of being consistent!
“A vs. an” quiz time!
Let’s take a quick timeout to see how well you’ve been paying attention. Which would you use for each of the following, a or an? If you need a hint, just remember the simple rule of consonant or vowel SOUNDS. It works every time! (Answers at the bottom of this post.)
- ____ FEMA disaster response
- ____ FM radio station
- ____ frequent visitor
- ____ handwritten note
- ____ HBO show
- ____ heir to the throne
- ____ HEPA filter
- ____ laser show
- ____ LSAT exam
- ____ mirror image
- ____ MRI scan
- ____ NASA flight
- ____ NFL team
- ____ octopus
- ____ one-time offer
- ____ REM sleep cycle
- ____ Rembrandt painting
- ____ R.E.M. song
- ____ SOP document
- ____ sopping wet towel
- ____ ugly truth
- ____ useful tip
- ____ UFO sighting
- ____ Xerox machine
- ____ X-ray
A travesty of federal proportions
Now that you’ve scored 100% on the quiz (I’m cautiously optimistic for you, dear reader), we can all poke fun together at—gasp!—our own federal government!
From the FDA’s own website—face palm!
While digging around on Google to uncover the prevalence of “a vs. an” incorrect usage, I made a disgraceful discovery. The FDA, a federal agency, has in at least three cases botched the usage of its own acronym. Take a look at that screenshot. The TOP THREE hits for the incorrect “a FDA-regulated product” are from the FDA itself! Should I be embarrassed for our country?
In case you were wondering, the correct “an FDA-regulated product” yields 11,800 Google hits to the incorrect version’s 1,570. Presumably the other 1,567 incorrect hits are NOT coming from the FDA, which means that according to Google search results, we are getting it wrong nearly 12% of the time.
Come on, people. We’re more educated than that!
Quiz answers:
A: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24
An: 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 21, 25
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