Another grammar lesson is to distinguish between two words as to which one is correct. Since we don’t want any grammatical mistake to occur even in our day-to-day life, let’s carry on. The fact that many of us get confused with articles ‘a’ & ‘an’ and sometimes we don’t know which one to use. There is a simple rule that once you get used to it, every time you come across some words before which you have to use articles, you will be in no confusion. It will be as easy as water.
Rules of Articles before Vowel and Consonant
Because of the spelling and pronunciation, placing an article before a word changes easily. We all know, there are 5 main vowels; a, e, i, o, & u. Excluding these 5 vowels, there remain 24 consonant words in almost every English dictionary and accent. We call them speeches that do not sound like vowels. There are lots of rules regarding vowels such as, ‘words starting with vowels,’ ‘words ending with vowels,’ ‘no vowel words,’ and so on. Let’s not get engaged in unnecessary things that are not related to this problem.
“A” before a consonant or vowel:
Whether a word starts with a consonant or a vowel, it matters a lot when we are thinking of using articles before them. If a word starts with a consonant, ‘a’ will sit before the word. It is the rule. However, even if it is a consonant, the pronunciation can change the whole matter. If it is vowel sound. Let me elaborate a little with an example. If you see the word ‘Honest,’ it starts with ‘h’ which is a consonant. However, when you pronounce it, it will sound ‘onest’ which means the ‘h’ is invisible.
- ‘An’ honest man will get a reward.
- “A man” should always be honest.
If a consonant word sounds like any of the vowel words, ‘an’ will sit before it.
“An” before a consonant or vowel:
If the word starts with a vowel, the article that will sit before it will be ‘an.’ Whether the first word is a vowel or a consonant with a vowel sound, ‘an’ will sit beforehand.
A History or An History
If we look back to the ‘a’ and ‘an’ rules, it will be very clear. ‘History’ is a word that starts with a consonant, no doubt. This is why the correct article will be ‘a.’ For more clearance, if you pronounce it aloud, it will still sound like history. Since there is also no vowel sound, we can be sure to use ‘a’ in this matter.
- Can you get a history book for this girl?
In short, “A history’ is the correct answer.