107 Comments
I was told I'm school that if there's a vowel after "a" the you change the a to an because two vowels can't be together
That would be true if uniform were pronounced as "ooniform". I'm not sure what dialect of English you have, but most of them pronounce it as "yooniform". Y, notably, being a consonant here.
It's why why someone would say "Could you spare a Euro? and not "Could you spare an Euro?"
Or someone would say "I visited a university yesterday" rather than "I visited an university yesterday."
That would include "an herb" --even if you are inclined to pronounce the "h". :)
In UK English we pronounce it Herb with the "h" (not 'erb without) and say "a herb".
And here we come full circle:
American English "An (h)erb" (Parenthesis indicating the silent /h/.) British English "A herb" (/h/ pronounced/)
Which language were we learning again? searches page
Cheers, everyone. :)
Could u give me an example using 'an' and a word beginig with a vowel? Thanks!
The u in umbrella is transcribed /^/ the u in uniform is transcribed /ju:/ the first one is a vowel sound the second one the "j" is not, that is why the correct form is AN UMBRELLA and A UNIFORM
Thank you so much! Undina, you killed two birds with a stone. :)
You teach us the correct way to write and spell it and plus gave us a great example. Take care of my Lingot. :)
Makes sense....but I was taught not with the SOUND but with the LETTER, so if it's a vowel it'll always be AN not A
The rule of placing an before a vowel is actually to place an before a vowel sound. Therefore, because uniform is pronounced with a "y" sound (/ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/), which is not a vowel sound, it takes an a before it.
I hate to pick on your female robot but she just cannot pronounce "divisa" properly
I must agree that for much of the Italian it is difficult to understand the pronunciations.
Spricht man den vokal als Konsonanten aus, so wird A anstatt AN verwendet
(C) native speaker am telefon
Here is the place to speak English or Italian not German.
Sie sprichen Englisch oder Italisch, keine Deutsch.
different problem: why wouldn't currency be marked as correct? Same chapter appears to have the wallet as a new word right after "una divisa" ?!
a, e, i, o, u, and SOMETIMES y. Y is only a vowel if it sounds like i. Dynamo- the y is a vowel. Mystery-the y is a vowel. Young- the y is a consonant. Make sense?
Well, it does a little, but if you segregate the phonemes, it will still sound like a vowel (will sound like "e" in this case: \i-\dn-\g or: \e-\un-\g)
Wthell! U sounds like yoo, then it is considered as a consonant!!! Really? I thought Y was vowel
Maybe someone that actually studies languages for a living can correct me, but as far as i know, vowels are considered vowels if you don't use your tongue or your lips does not touch each other to pronounce the lettter. As in "e" and "i" pronounced in english, you use only your "throat air" and the opening size of your mouth. Same is in portuguese and i believe it should be in every other language. (Test this yourselves) That said, why "y" is not considered a vowel? With that questioning, "yoo" would still sound like a vowel, in "yoo-ni-form", and it should have the "an" preposition, by rule.
Not a linguist but I think it's cuz you still constrict your mouth a bit to say 'y' compared to 'ee' where you don't. It's not lips or tongue but more like the back of the mouth. Similarly to a 'hh' sound - no lips or tongue used but definitely a consonant. Also if you tried to say 'an yooniform' vs 'a yooniform' you'll probably find the latter easier to say :)
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Sounds yet again like "un" and not "una". To learn correctly, I /we need a clear speaker . There are many instances of bad pronunciation in the course. Ok for the native speaker but an unnecessary add-on for the learner.
there are some answers to the question about the use a and an before the begining words with vowel! but it is not clear for me, could some friend help me with this. i will apreciate your answer and i I want to take this opportunity to wish you a happy ending of the year and a successful new year 2017
When asked to "type what you hear", I wrote una divisa. DuoLingo said "oops, that's not correct, but "una divisa" was written as the correct phrase.
Yes, the app says that the correct answer is "A uniform", like mine. I have even ensured that there isn't any extra space
this recording would never play and I'd have to skip each time. I hope I don't lose my lesson :(
Why the hell noone told me that (a yuniform) in 12y of formal english lessons?
The guy who stole my wallet is going to wear one with black and white stripes.
that weird moment when Y is a consonant with vowel sound and you have a weird rule about A and AN before the sound of vowel and consonants, but the word clearly has vowel sound, but it's actually the Y sound which is consonant.
i'm pretty sure that if we had the letter Y in the Portuguese alphabet, it would most likely be a vowel. It has the sound of IU in Portuguese when in the beginning of English words
It is like a thought! For all my life I thought Y was vowel and W was a mixed!
why "a uniform" the rule says "a" turns "an" in order to avoid two vowels followed. I want my heart back :)
it's not the vowel/consonant itself.
it's vowel/consonant sound that matters and yes, these crazy words started with U, like uniform, university, union, the letter U itself, all of them believe it or not, start with a consonant sound. the Y sound.
in Portuguese we don't have the letter Y in the alphabet, it is strange to me to think the letter Y is a consonant. to me it has a vowel sound.
There is a bug in the app. My response was exactly the same as the app but it marked mine as wrong.
I have learned that ,,u" is vowel ... and when the word before de article starts with vowel, than we can put "an "
since when 2 vowels can be together in when comes to "a"?? Duolingo, fix it, please.
I think Duolingo should credit this answer based on the english every user speaks; British or American. Just to avoid this type of controversy.
The rule is that before a word starting with a vowel you must put AN not A
this is wrong when you use the indefinite articles like an and a, if there is a vowel after the article you should use "an" for example
AN UNIFORM AN ANT AN EXAMPLE
please fix this, this is really important for people who is learning
That is incorrect. In American English, anyway, the Y is only a vowel when it has an i sound. If it has the y sound of youth or you or even if another vowel has the y sound, like uniform, it is treated as a consonant. A uniform. No American ever has said "an uniform."
Forgive me for correcting you, but you are mistaken. It is in fact, "a uniform". Here is a reference for your understanding.
I have learned that when the word starts with a vowel you should write "an". It doesn't matter the pronunciation.
Not exact. When a word starts with a vowel sound is when you use "an".
"a uniform"/"an umbrella" "a house"/"an hour"
you say "an" when the word after it starts with a vowel sound. Uniform is pronounced like "you-ni-form".
In case the indentation isn't clear I mean 'an ooniform' is correct if that's how you say uniform. 'A yoo-nee-form' is correct for that pronunciation. English is a varied, broken thing.
I have never heard any native speaker of any variation of English pronounce the word as "ooniform". English is no more broken than any other language. Some aspects are very useful, others chaotic, due to its numerous sources.
