"Nosotros podemos construir un hotel."
Translation:We can build a hotel.
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i agree with "an hotel" but "a hotel is" also accepted usage when the H is aspirated.
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No, nothing to do with being a Londoner. An hotel is correct English. (At least, if you live in the Britain or Ireland). It is still not accepted 1/Dec/2015. I have just reported it.
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I come from the North and was taught (70 yrs ago) to say an hotel because the elision is more attractive than if you pronounce the 'h'. Modern versions are not necessarily better. Come on Duo, allow both !
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The issue here is the difference between British English and American English and to a lesser extent Canadian or Australian English. In many parts of Great Britain, the "h" is silent or very very soft, pronounced "otel", so "an hotel". In America the "h" is pronounced so "a hotel". In America most nouns that start with "h" use "a". A house, a hurricane, a hotel, a horse, a home, etc. The only exception that I can think of the the word herb. Most Americans (at least in the North East ) pronounce it "erb". So "an" is used. For example: that plant is an herb.
Both "an hotel" and "a hotel" are correct depending on where you live.
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Being Canadian, though not representing all Canadians, I learned the rule 'an' before words starting with 'H'. my experience though, suggests either 'a' or 'an' is acceptable to me, to Canadians, to the English, Irish...so why not DUOLINGO???
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I can't unequivocally disagree with you, stinkstonk, but I've never heard "an hotel" in American English. I can't say anything about British, Australian, or any other English dialects, however.
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I couldn't agree with you more. You can't unequivocally disagree and I don't think that we could fail to disagree less - Londoners eh ??
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...en El Muelle. Solamente necesitamos cuatro casas y doscientos dolares más. ;)
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"[...] Today, though, these three words are generally pronounced with a spoken ‘h’ at the beginning and so it’s now more logical to refer to ‘a hotel’, ‘a historic event’, or ‘a horrific accident’."
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/a-historic-event-or-an-historic-event
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It depends a bit on where you are in the world. Where I live we say 'an honor to meet you' but we say 'a hotel.'
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You should come over to the Portuguese tree and see what passes for "English" there... truly hair-raising! ;-)
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Why hasn't "an" been accepted? It's clear to me that either answer is acceptable.
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Thanks for all the comments. It must be us Brits and Irish that use "an". It is because the word is a French word therefore the "h" is not sounded and "an" makes for more fluent speech. Both should be allowed in Duolingo.
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An hotel is normally accepted. Both "a" and "an" should be accepted, since English speakers use it.
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Since you have not corrected your grammatical error of a year ago AN hotel not A hotel, I am going to point it out again!!
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Whether the 'h' is aspirated or not, good English remains "an hotel" - "a hotel" is poor English and should not be used in a language course!
My comment is a contribtion to Duolingo variety, at least regarding the debate (?) in this thread in respect of 'an' or 'a' of hotel. Why is (was): 'We can construct an/a hotel' not acceptable since 'construir' can be either build or construct!