having seen a similar one on Ask.com, I just recalled a question I'd intended to ask.
So, I was taught that we use 'an' in front of words that begin with a vowel. OK, it's easier to pronounce. But recently I saw something like 'an homicide'(but it was some other word beginning with /h/). Or the example that person had mentioned on Ask, "an historical book". What's the story?
It wouldn't explain an homicide, but there's a more complicated (some would say more sophisticated) version of the rule that says a word beginning with h takes "an" when the first syllable is unstressed. So you have:
- a history, but an historic occasion or an historian
- a hospitality, but an hospitable environment
- a harmony, but an harmonic progression
- a habit, but an habitual liar
As is usual in situations like this, other people will latch onto the simpler version of the rule and use "a" with all of the above.
Ron Draney said
It wouldn't explain an homicide, but there's a more complicated (some would say more sophisticated) version of the rule that says a word beginning with h takes "an" when the first syllable is unstressed. So you have:
- a history, but an historic occasion or an historian
- a hospitality, but an hospitable environment
- a harmony, but an harmonic progression
- a habit, but an habitual liar
As is usual in situations like this, other people will latch onto the simpler version of the rule and use "a" with all of the above.
I don't think this has ever been a widely accepted rule in American English. The rule is that a vowel (that is, a vowel sound) is preceded by an and a consonant (that is, a consonant sound) is preceded by a. There is a tendency for some politicians to say things like "an historic," but me that is simply an affectation and has nothing to do with the rule.