Michelle Konzack wrote: > "an" is used before a "vowel" like > > an USB connector > an Inode > an Error > but > a Straw(berry) :-) > a Maintainer > a Debian package > Well, that's certainly what they taught me at school, too. :) But it's just not what I hear or read living in the US for ~30 years... So I looked a little further:
Basically, one says "an" before a _phonemic_ vowel -- in other words, only a vowel that starts with a vowel-like sound. Specifically, this page http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html mentions that "u" often does not require an "an", namely when it sounds like "y" in "you". A found a few other references to this on the web, and it appears entirely reasonable and agrees with my personal experience as a native English speaker, so I believe it. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
