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Raubt Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

An historical...

I was just wondering if someone could explain to me the use of "an" in front of the word "historical."

As far as I've come to understand, all throughout my schooling, "an" is only used in front of words which start with a vowel. Yet, I see "an historical" all the time, used by reputable journalists and the like, and it doesn't really make sense to me. It even sounds kind of funny. Shouldn't the phrase be "a historical..." as opposed to "an"?
  

Top answer

It depends on the sound, and with an unstressed h- syllable, many feel the an is more mellifluous: An historical meeting An Hawaiian holiday . I certainly do this when I speak, and sometimes duplicate it when I write. We have had some discussion on this before, and you are likely to get other opinions.

— Mister Micawber

  • It depends on the sound, and with an unstressed h- syllable, many feel the an is more mellifluous: An historical meeting An Hawaiian holiday .
  • I certainly do this when I speak, and sometimes duplicate it when I write.
  • We have had some discussion on this before, and you are likely to get other opinions.
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1 Answers
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It depends on the sound, and with an unstressed h- syllable, many feel the an is more mellifluous:

An historical meeting
An Hawaiian holiday.

I certainly do this when I speak, and sometimes duplicate it when I write. We have had some discussion on this before, and you are likely to get other opinions.
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