"Thomas Hejl Pilgaard" <pilgaard@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote...
>I stumbled upon the latter use recently, and it got me thinking.
> There seems to be some exceptions to the simple rule that I still
> use when deciding on "a" or "an"...
>
> If you go by the word "decrease", the "a 80% decrease" would be
> correct, but should you really dismiss the preceding "eighty"?
> Why? Because it's not a word, but a number?
>
> I go by the first letter of the first word after the prefix.
> Except for certain words, where the letter makes a "vocal
> sound", instead of a "vowel sound". (What is the proper term
> for this, incidentally?)
>
> These are some examples of what I would use. Am I wrong anywhere?:
>
> An 80% decrease
> A 50% increase
>
> A door
> An office door
>
> A herd
> An herb (because the h is mute)
>
> An orange
> A yellow orange
>
> A boat
> An orange boat
>
> ... Anyone have some fun or interesting examples in this exercise?
> Or some links for simplified rules on the matter?
You're right with all these. However, the 'h' in 'herb' is NOT mute in
UK English so in that context you would say "a herb".
A rule often followed in the case of a word beginning with 'h' is that
the letter is mute if the first syllable is unstressed. Those who
follow this rule would say "a history..." but "an historical ..."; "a
hospital" but "an hotel".
Matti
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