For all you English Majors out there here is my question?

Question

I am trying to figure out about this sentence.
"Look, I saw a UFO."
Why isnt it an UFO?
I thought it rules of grammer if it is a vowel AEIOU it should be used with an not a?
Could you explain this to me?
I had never even given this a thought till was asked by another teacher who couldn't come up with the answer.

Help if you can.

Answer 1

It isn't just a quirk of the English language. It follows the rules of "a" vs "an," but not in the sense of the written letter, rather, the way the word is pronounced. UFO is an acronym with the "Y" sound in the beginning--not the "U" (oo or uh) sound. We pronounce it "yoo-eff-oh," not "oo-eff-oh" or "uh-eff-oh." Since "Y" is a sometimes vowel, and never given vowel-status at the beginning of a word, you would say "a UFO." If you watched a program on ESPN, you would have watched "an ESPN program," not "a ESPN program." Did I answer your question???

Answer 2

The use of "a" or "an" depends on sound, not spelling. There are vowel sounds and consinent sounds. Since the "U" in UFO is pronounced like 'you', "a" is used. There are quite a few U words like this such as useful or unique. Words like "honor" use "an" instead of "a" because a vowel sound starts the word. I think a good way to remember is how you wold spell the sound. Does the SOUND start with a vowel or a consinent, then choose 'a' or 'an' to correlate with the sound.

Answer 3

Here the "UFO" is not a word even finite for any symbol or name. The rule of "a" or "an" stands for the words that starts with any vowel while the "UFO" is not a word at all. This is a composition of words. This rule changes here when we write "a university" it is wrong when we write "an university". So this rule is conditional in itself.

Answer 4

i'm a music significant and enable me purely say, music majors won't be able to minor- the agenda is too demanding middle. colleges pressure you into 12-14 education in preserving with semester because maximum education you should take are in straight forward words a million credit, some 0! and prefer 2 of those are properly worth 2 credit. you do not get gaps between education and your days run 8AM-8pm immediately by Mon-fri. Weekends you commute including your ensembles. Non-music majors would properly be in band and orchestra, you in straight forward words ought to audition

Answer 5

No. The U in UFO is pronounced like YOU. That y sound is considered a consonant. It is correct to say a rather than an.

Answer 6

Dear,

You asked a nice question.

you have asked the sentance "Look, I saw a UFO".

but why Isn't it an UFO. Hear i tell you what, UFO is shortform.
if you writing or reading it contains "a".When you using the fullform it contains an UFO

i guess this is the right anwer of you question.

thank.

Answer 7

You would say, "Look, I saw an unidentified flying object." I don't think UFO should be too different.

Either you use A because it's an abbreviation, or the correct usage would be an, and we overlook it in common speech.

Answer 8

You only use "an" before a vowel SOUND
When UFO is transcribed, it does not have a vowel sound.

Answer 9

UFO is pronounced you ef oh. The y sound is either a consonant, as it is in you, or a vowel, as it is in why or easy. In you ef oh, it is a consonant.

Answer 10

well in English rules can sometimes be bent, like I before E except after C, well explain the word science. Its one of those things you can't explain......