2007-03-13 09:47:21 · 14 answers · asked by lushpoppy 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's An historic event.
Because supposedly the H is silent!
Trust me, I'm a journalist!
I'm not trying to be rude but...Amelie, please go look this one up before teaching your students the rule. I think you'll be suprised. Please see Rhsunders's post
2007-03-13 10:01:38 · answer #1 · answered by Dee 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
For me, it's "a historic". The article "a" is used in front of consonants, and "an" in front of vowels; clearly, "h" is a consonant. But the kicker is pronunciation: usually in English, a leading "h" is pronounced, and in that case, "a" would be indicated. But there are some words in which the leading "h" is silent, and in those, "an" is better. To further compound the confusion, if the original word is French, then there is the question of whether the leading "h" is aspirate or mute; this determines whether the definite article is taken as "le" or as "l' ". Occasionally, a word sneaks into English from French, and this business sticks, and that is the case with "history": in French, the h is mute, and the corresponding English construction would be "an historic". I trust that we are now quite clear on all of this....
2007-03-13 11:30:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
The article 'a' is used when it precedes a word that starts with a consonant sound.
E.g. a pen
a book
a historic event
a one-way street(pronounced: wan wei stri:t)
'an' is used when the first letter of the next word has a vowel sound.
E.g. an umbrella
an apple
an hour (aoua:)
an honest man (onest)
So, it's 'a historic event'
2007-03-13 11:02:40 · answer #3 · answered by amelie 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Strictly speaking, "an historic" is correct.
This a leftover from the French influence. The H is (or was) mute, not aspirate. You can usually tell by the fact that the first syllable of the "h" word isn't stressed. So..."an hisTORic", but "a HIStory". (But there ARE exceptions.)
Nowadays, though, most people use "a" before an "h" word willy-nilly, and although it's wrong, it's not the crime of the century.
Put it this way - I hate poor English, but, like split infinitives and prepositions at the ends of sentences, it doesn't bother me!
2007-03-14 13:23:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
In days gone by when english was oh so correct it would have been A Historic, however these days either is correct and An Historic is used regularly!
2007-03-17 09:06:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is "a historic event."
"A" normally precedes all words beginning with a consonant and "an" precedes all word beginning with a vowel.
The exception to this rule is if the consonant is silent such that the spoken word starts with a vowel sound it will take "an."
If the "H" word has a silent "H" such as the word hour it takes an "AN" but if the "H" is sounded such as in house or histrionic it takes an "A".
2007-03-13 10:09:18 · answer #6 · answered by HelpingHand 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
definitive: an historic
an hour
a house
a mouse!
e.g. ~ it was an historic moment in yahoo's life~: said normally the 'an' gets shortened to 'n' and the 'h' sound is barely audible in the following noun. if you tried that with 'house' it would sound like 'nous' which is obviously wrong!
2007-03-13 20:42:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's "an historic..." any word beginning with an H must be preceded with "an" instead of "a". Always confused me too!!
2007-03-13 09:58:39 · answer #8 · answered by supated 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
An historic... trust me, I'm a retired successful journalist.
2007-03-13 10:10:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
The rule is that you want to avoid a double glottal stop. So technically 'an historic event' is correct. So is "an house" or "an hotel." But we don't speak that way.
2007-03-13 09:57:50 · answer #10 · answered by fredrick z 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋