I have come across a lot of posts , especially here on nairaland with the wrong use of the article, "an." These people have been inclined to believe that any word that begins with the letter "h" should be proceeded with the article ,"an" . I don't know if it annoys you but it annoys me a lot . These are the few cases I can remember :

1. My brother bought an house in a swampy area of Lagos
2. He became an hero by saving the small boy from the fire .
3. We had an heated argument over which of the celebrities was more beautiful .

This can slow down a reader's comprehension; he keeps repeating the sentence , wondering if he's missing something

The funny thing is that these set of guys will be free styling with it thinking they're speaking advanced English

Am not an English teacher , in fact I studied electrical engineering but I have come to make this little observation and wish every culprit takes correction .

There is something not so clear abt the use of 'an'. it seems it depends on the sound dat starts the noun it is used with rather than the first letter as most of us were taught. I remember dat at the end of dis mnet series 'edge of paradise' they do write 'An Mnet Production'
I stand to be corrected doh, I am not an English student, I am studying an engineering course too.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/


I totally agree with you "an" can only prefix vowels(a e i o u).

But the issue is, when you pronounce, house /haʊs/ like /aʊs/ then "an" will normally come in.


I also have this challenge especially while conversing.

Indefinite Articles: a and an

"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For example:

"My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This refers to any dog. We don't know which dog because we haven't found the dog yet."Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any policeman. We don't need a specific policeman; we need any policeman who is available."When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here, we're talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably several elephants at the zoo, but there's only one we're talking about here.

Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dogan + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphana + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicyclean + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour
a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse 

In some cases where "h" is pronounced, such as "historical," you can use an. However, a is more commonly used and preferred.

lonngmann: There is something not so clear abt the use of 'an'. it seems it depends on the sound dat starts the noun it is used with rather than the first letter as most of us were taught. I remember dat at the end of dis mnet series 'edge of paradise' they do write 'An Mnet Production'
I stand to be corrected doh, I am not an English student, I am studying an engineering course too.

Yes . it is the sound that determines the use the article and not the letter. It is normally used when the sound is vowel .. "An Mnet " is correct owing to the fact that "Mnet" is pronounced "Emnet"

Front page please

English is 200% harder than Mathematics but people will not agree, I prefer My mother tongue either, everyday I check My dictionary to learn new words.

Philosophy and English students I hail oooo.

lonngmann: There is something not so clear abt the use of 'an'. it seems it depends on the sound dat starts the noun it is used with rather than the first letter as most of us were taught. I remember dat at the end of dis mnet series 'edge of paradise' they do write 'An Mnet Production'
I stand to be corrected doh, I am not an English student, I am studying an engineering course too.

well, u ar correct. it all depends on the initial sound' not the ' initial letter'. This poses a lot of problem to yoruba - English bilinguals or Nigerians who understand and interact more with the Yoruba language. E.g inappropriate use of silent" h" ...

soldierdollar:
Am not an English teacher , in fact I studied electrical engineering but I have come to make this little observation and wish every culprit takes correction .

You should also take correction for 'Am'. It should be I'm

These is very interesting!

But why are everybody denying being a English student? Are you all afraid of been proven wrong after your contributions and instances? Nobody would laugh at you if you admitted to be studying English just like I. We are all learning

Other instances
A European
An hounour
A etc

semid4lyfe:

You should also take correction for 'Am'. It should be I'm

Thanks . Next time , include "I'm" as a quotation too and end your sentences with a full stop

I thought I was the only one having this problem, was contemplating opening a topic for it. mostly when I use the word "honest" eg. He is an honest man. Most time I think am correct, and at other times I think am wrong. Good to know I might be correct since it depends on the first sound it produce. Thanks to the op and all other posters with their useful comments.

It's of no doubt that 'an' goes with vowels but you know there are some exceptions in English language... The word ''an'' can go with a word that starts with consonant provided it starts with a vowel sound... Take for example '' an honest man '', the word 'honest' started with a vowel pronunciation. (aw), therefore it goes with 'an'

tosyne2much: It's of no doubt that 'an' goes with vowels but you know there are some exceptions in English language... The word ''an'' can go with a word that starts with consonant provided it starts with a vowel sound... Take for example '' an honest man '', the word 'honest' started with a vowel pronunciation. (aw), therefore it goes with 'an'

Nice one