an unicorn or a unicorn?

Answer 1

'A unicorn' The only reason some think it should be "an" is that they were taught the rule incorrectly.

The rule is NOT that you use "an" before a vowel, "a" before a consonant. It is that you use "an" before a vowel SOUND, "a" before a consonant SOUND.

I believe the ONLY set of words this comes up with -- words which are spelled with a vowel at the beginning, but with a consonant SOUND-- are those that have a LONG-U sound. All of these are pronounced "yoo" -- note the "y-" consonant.

Examples (of two types):
spelled with u: unicorn, useful, ubiquitous.ukelele
spelled with eu (a Greek prefix meaning "good"): eulogy, euphoria

But with a SHORT-u sound, there is no "y-" at the beginning, just the vowel sound itself. Thus these words take "an":

Examples: under, upper, ugly, urge

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On the other side, before words that begin with a consonant that is SILENT -- so that the first thing pronounced is the vowel sound,-- you use "an". There are a whole series of words that start with a silent H (borrowed from French) that work this way. This can be a bit confusing, because different dialects of English include different words in this list. Many of them starting pronouncing the "h" in more 'standard' forms of English.

a) ALL dialects treat the h as silent (and so use "an"): honest, hono(u)r
b) British vs. American - herb (originally silent, British 'added it back')
c) silent in some major regional dialects (e.g. the southern USA)- humble, humor
d) some dialects generalize the silent h to (Germanic/Old English) words that had it -- e.g., Cockney

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Summary -- the 'exceptions' =
* "long U" and "eu" (always)
* H (originally from word derived from French... which ones now varies by dialect)

In any case, you don't exactly need to memorize specific words that are exceptions -- just pay attention to whether the first SOUND in the word is a consonant or vowel sound.

Answer 2

A Unicorn Or An Unicorn

Answer 3

A unicorn.

The use of a or an before a word beginning with u depends upon the way the "u" is pronounced. For example, an umbrella, an understanding; but a unicorn, a university, a unit...

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
an unicorn or a unicorn?

Answer 5

a unicorn

Answer 6

a unicorn

Answer 7

It's not an exception, people, it's a phonological rule and has nothing to do with spelling.

unicorn is pronounced *yunicorn, thus a *yunicorn. There is no need for an "n" because the "y" separates the vowels a and u.

Answer 8

A Unicorn. One of the few exceptions from the vowel exercise.

Answer 9

a unicorn a university Why?

because the first letter is pronounced like a consonant not a vowel.

do you get the picture now?

Answer 10

a unicorn... gotta love those exceptions