I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.

I can think of one but am sure there must be more....

Tim

From:	Andrew Bull
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:53:26 -0000

Tim Roberts wrote in message <41f2e376@dnews.tpgi.com.au>...
>I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
>article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
>word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>
>I can think of one but am sure there must be more....

Plenty posted for "e" and "u".
For "o": Ouija, ouabain, ouakari, ouistiti
Best I can find for "i" is iure, and I can't find any for "a".

From:	Adrian Bailey
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 13:16:45 GMT

"Tim Roberts" wrote in message
news:41f2e376@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
> article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
> word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>
> I can think of one but am sure there must be more....

As others have said (time and time again) it's not the presence of "a vowel"
that's important, it's the presence of **a vowel sound**.

a European
a uniform
an hour
an H

Adrian

From:	Prai Jei
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 18:39:01 +0000

Adrian Bailey (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
<1tNId.203133$48.194594@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk>:

> "Tim Roberts" wrote in message
> news:41f2e376@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
>> I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
>> article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to
>> a word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>>
>> I can think of one but am sure there must be more....
>
> As others have said (time and time again) it's not the presence of "a
> vowel" that's important, it's the presence of **a vowel sound**.
>
> a European
> a uniform
> an hour
> an H

Not forgetting an 18-wheeler, an 8086 processor (remember them? That's
right, no middle digit) or an MP3 file.
--
Paul Townsend
Pair them off into threes

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply

From:	Phil Carmody
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	23 Jan 2005 17:42:37 +0200

"Adrian Bailey" writes:

> "Tim Roberts" wrote in message
> news:41f2e376@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> > I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
> > article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
> > word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
> >
> > I can think of one but am sure there must be more....
>
> As others have said (time and time again) it's not the presence of "a vowel"
> that's important, it's the presence of **a vowel sound**.
>
> a European
> a uniform
> an hour
> an H

Plus things like the painful "an historical ...".

I think most of the bases have been covered by now. One
last one that seems to have slipped through would be:

An Yttrium atom. (& related)
An yclept such-and-such. (Hey, man, I still use the word!)
An ybounden Adam. (OK, I don't use that one, I admit)

Phil

--
Excerpt from Geoff Bulter's Proscriptive Dictionary:
aaa Don't use this, there's no such word
aaaa Don't use this, there's no such word
aaaaa Don't use this, there's no such word

From:	Phil Carmody
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	23 Jan 2005 14:48:03 +0200

"Tim Roberts" writes:
> I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
> article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
> word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>
> I can think of one but am sure there must be more....

Anything uni-...

Phil
--
Excerpt from Geoff Bulter's Proscriptive Dictionary:
aaa Don't use this, there's no such word
aaaa Don't use this, there's no such word
aaaaa Don't use this, there's no such word

From:	Song Weaver
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 20:19:44 -0500

Phil Carmody wrote:
>>I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
>>article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
>>word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>>
>>I can think of one but am sure there must be more....
>
> Anything uni-...

That's a fairly uninformed opinion.

--julie

From:	Patrick Hamlyn
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 00:21:18 GMT

"Tim Roberts" wrote:

>I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
>article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
>word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>
>I can think of one but am sure there must be more....

Who remembers a movie or something where a particularly annoying little boy
pipes up in a particularly shrill squeak something like
"I've got an uuuuuunicoooooorn!"

The sound of that line in my head has stayed with me for over 30 years, maybe
40, everything else about the movie has gone.

===
And let's not neglect the inverse of what you want, ie "an hotel/hospital"

--
Patrick Hamlyn posting from Perth, Western Australia
Windsurfing capital of the Southern Hemisphere
Moderator: polyforms group (polyforms-subscribe@egroups.com)

From:	Steve Grant
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:52:09 -0500

"Tim Roberts" wrote in message
news:41f2e376@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the indefinite
> article "a" rather than the indefinite article "an" immediately prior to a
> word beginning with one of the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>
> I can think of one but am sure there must be more....

Any "u-" word in which the 'u' is pronounced "yoo-."

A unified theory, a union, a united front, a universally held view, a
university, ....

From:	Bill Smythe
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:01:07 -0600

"Steve Grant" wrote:
> A unified theory, a union, a united front, a universally held view, a
> university, ....

A eulogy, a eunuch ....

Bill Smythe

From:	Dan Tilque
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 00:21:17 -0800

Steve Grant wrote:

> "Tim Roberts" wrote in message
> news:41f2e376@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
>> I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the
>> indefinite article "a" rather than the indefinite article
>> "an" immediately prior to a word beginning with one of the
>> five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
>
> Any "u-" word in which the 'u' is pronounced "yoo-."
>
> A unified theory, a union, a united front, a universally held
> view, a university, ....

What about 'unionized'? A or an?

--
Dan Tilque

From:	EDEB
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 09:10:49 +0000 (UTC)

: >> I'm looking for examples of where it is correct to use the
: >> indefinite article "a" rather than the indefinite article
: >> "an" immediately prior to a word beginning with one of the
: >> five vowels a,e,i,o,u.

And a eunuch.

EDEB.

From:	Prai Jei
Subject:	Re: a and an
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 11:01:05 +0000

Dan Tilque (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
<10v6njbj1af5i06@corp.supernews.com>:

>> Any "u-" word in which the 'u' is pronounced "yoo-."
>>
>> A unified theory, a union, a united front, a universally held
>> view, a university, ....
>
> What about 'unionized'? A or an?

Depends on the meaning. If it means "pertaining to a union" then the first
syllable is pronounced "yoon-" and "a" is correct. If it is the chemical
term "not having been converted to a charged particle" then the first
syllable is pronounced "un-" and "an" is the appropriate form.

There you have *a* European viewpoint.
--
Paul Townsend
Pair them off into threes

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply