a universal / an universal

C

chucupistacho

New Member
Spanish
Hi all!

Do you know which of the following expressions would be the correct one?

(...) a universal decoding method (...)
(...) an universal decoding method (..)

At first I wrote it as "an", just because the following word began with a vowel, but when I read it aloud it sounds rather strange for me...

Thank you everybody!
 
    • Yes, it is strange. I would use "a". Although "universal" starts with a vowel we pronounce it as if it started with a "y" (yooniversal). So, "a universal" is good in this case.
     
    a universal decoding method

    There is quite a large number of words that begin with a vowel but must have a placed before them, such as European, universal, urine, use, etc.
     
    :confused: ¿Y cómo saber cuando usar a o an?

    En el colegio siempre me enseñaron:

    A, cuando la palabra que sigue comienza con consonante.
    An, cuando la palabra que sigue comienza con vocal.

    Gracias.
     
    It only happens with some words that begin with u or eu because they are pronounced as yoo. For instance, European is pronounced sort of like yoor-oh-pee-in. So it sounds very strange to us when non-natives make the mistake of saying an European girl.

    I guess that you would have to simply learn the way the word is pronounced and memorize it.

    There are also some words that begin with h but use an instead of a, such as an hour, an honor, and (in American English only) an herb. This is because the h is silent in these words.
     
    Sprache said:
    It only happens with some words that begin with u or eu because they are pronounced as yoo. For instance, European is pronounced sort of like yoor-oh-pee-in. So it sounds very strange to us when non-natives make the mistake of saying an European girl.

    I guess that you would have to simply learn the way the word is pronounced and memorize it.

    There are also some words that begin with h but use an instead of a, such as an hour, an honor, and (in American English only) an herb. This is because the h is silent in these words.
    Click to expand...


    Thanks a lot. Now, I understood. When I saw to my enliglish teacher, I'll tell him.
     
    Chalon said:
    En el colegio siempre me enseñaron:

    A, cuando la palabra que sigue (as it is spoken, not as it is written) comienza con consonante.
    An, cuando la palabra que sigue (as it is spoken, not as it is written) comienza con vocal.
    Click to expand...
     
    Chalon said:
    :confused: ¿Y cómo saber cuando usar a o an?

    En el colegio siempre me enseñaron:

    A, cuando la palabra que sigue comienza con consonante.
    An, cuando la palabra que sigue comienza con vocal.

    Gracias.
    Click to expand...

    Buena pregunta... en inglés hay tres artículos a, an, the pero todo todo todo depende de la pronunciación.... por ejemplo... an hour... (no pronunciamos h por eso sin la h queda our, por lo tanto se pone el artículo como an hour... a Universal (aunque comienza con U se pronuncia como "You" en inglés).
     
    chucupistacho said:
    Hi all!

    Do you know which of the following expressions would be the correct one?

    (...) a universal decoding method (...)
    (...) an universal decoding method (..)
    At first I wrote it as "an", just because the following word began with a vowel, but when I read it aloud it sounds rather strange for me...
    Thank you everybody!
    Click to expand...

    The correct choice of the articles a and an depends on the initial sound of a word, not on the initial letter..

    The letter a should be used before all words beginning with a consonant sound except silent h (an honor) and before words beginning with vowels that represent combined consonant and vowel sounds (a university, a unit, a hyphen, a one-horse town, a hyphen, a unique, a union, a US soldier, a historic, a historical,a U-Boat, a European, many a one, a U-Turn, a uniform.
    USING AN
    an EU country, an MP ( military Police)
    Using AN Silent (h)
    an f, an hour, an honor,an honest man, an hour ago, an heir to the throne, an honorable peace.
    USING A
    after an aspirated (h) a hotel, a house, a hill, a hymn, a honeycomb, and a history or a historical, a holiday.
    A U-turn, a US soldier/diplomat, a one-day event.
    Some words use both articles: a/an
    A/an hotel
    a/an historic moment
    a/an horrific accident
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top