use of the indefinite article?
I'm being lazy, but does anyone have any robust knowledge about which article to use in this sentence: an or a?
'According to Sage, Hoffmann weaved a mixture of myths and folktales around __ historical event, rather than writing, like Schiller, in a mainly historical vein'
I was reading an american copy of The Glass Bead Game and came across 'a historical', but thought that's the Americans for you, but now I'm not so sure. I know that with a few words that were borrowed from the French, the initial consonant h is not pronounced e.g.' an heir to the throne', does this apply to historical? It is of French origin I think.
If anyone has any light they can shed on this, I'd be very grateful.
'According to Sage, Hoffmann weaved a mixture of myths and folktales around __ historical event, rather than writing, like Schiller, in a mainly historical vein'
I was reading an american copy of The Glass Bead Game and came across 'a historical', but thought that's the Americans for you, but now I'm not so sure. I know that with a few words that were borrowed from the French, the initial consonant h is not pronounced e.g.' an heir to the throne', does this apply to historical? It is of French origin I think.
If anyone has any light they can shed on this, I'd be very grateful.
posted by Mark W at 9:33 am
1 Comments:
Thanks Desmond.
I found this by Dr. Thomas Nunnally, associate professor of English, with AU's College of Liberal Arts.
'Standard English requires us to say AN before any word starting with a vowel SOUND (it doesn't matter how the word is spelled, just how it is pronounced) and to say A before any word starting with a consonant (non-vowel) sound (again, no matter how it is spelled, just how it is pronounced). So, follow your ear: if the word starts with a vowel sound, use AN. If it starts with a consonant sound, use A.
He goes on to say: A or AN? history (HINT: go by the sound. Sometimes you'll see people use AN before HISTORY or HISTORICAL, but don't be confused. These people think they are being correct, but they are actually being very fuddy-duddy about this word. They should write AN only if they actually say 'ISTORY or 'ISTORICAL, as the words used to be pronounced long ago.)
If he's right it should be 'a historical'.
I'm not totally convinced..
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