Whether to put a or an

A or AN

 

There have been great confusions in the minds of learners regarding, whether to put “a” or “an” before a word.

 

I am going to resolve this confusion between “a” vs “an”

 

Listen to the start of the word, do not read it.

 

When the start of the word is pronounced like a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) we put “an”

 

Example: an hour    pronounced: our

If you read the word it does not contain a vowel at the start of the word, but we still put “an”, because we have to listen to start of the word.

 

When the start of the word is pronounced like a consonant (all letters except vowels) we put “a”

 

Example: a university    pronounced: you nah ver city

If you read the word it does not contain a consonant at the start of the word, but we still put “a”, because we have to listen to start of the word.