this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2024
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Something feels funny about “an European”. I’m pretty sure I’d say “A European”, but I have no idea what rule is triggering me to say that.
Damn English is all over the place.
I didnt even think about it, but looking it up „a European“ is correct. It‘s not about the letter, but the sound.
Source: https://www.quora.com/Which-is-correct-%E2%80%9Ca-European%E2%80%9D-or-%E2%80%9Can-European%E2%80%9D-Why
Whenever someone types “an historic” I read it as “an istoric” in my mind.
And you'd be right to do so!
I read that in a French accent
Jurop
!yurop@lemm.ee
What an horrible rule
I disagree. It just marks the break between two vowel sounds. In English we just happen to write it down when necessary. French does this too, but in the opposite direction. As a general rule, one does not pronounce the last consonant of a word except in instances where two vowel sounds meet. In these cases, the first word's consonant links into the second word
Whoosh
Lmao alright fair play
it absolutely is.
Imperialism does that.
English spelling doesn't match sound, it's about sound
European is (depending on exact dialect) /ˌjoː.ɹəˈpɪ.jan/, so it begins with a consonant. So you don't need "an"
It's most likely because you don't pronounce a vowel at the front of the word, even if you write one.