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LionHeartIV Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Indefinite article

If the rule about the indefinite article is:

'a' is used before nouns starting with a consonant.

Why is 'an' used in the following sentence:

I want to work in an outstanding company.

  

Top answer

You need to deepen your understanding of this topic. eg a egg , eg a economy . We resolve this difficulty by saying eg an egg eg an economy , because t his is much easier to pronounce.

— Clive

  • You need to deepen your understanding of this topic.
  • eg a egg , eg a economy .
  • We resolve this difficulty by saying eg an egg eg an economy , because t his is much easier to pronounce.
  • Now let's consider your example.
  • It's easy for me to say a company.
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3 Answers
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You need to deepen your understanding of this topic.

The underlying problem is that native speakers of English find it hard to pronounce two consecutive vowel sounds, .eg a egg, eg a economy. We resolve this difficulty by saying eg an egg eg an economy, because this is much easier to pronounce.


Now let's consider your example.

I

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LionHeartIV'a' is used before nouns starting with a consonant.

Not quite correct.

"a" is used before words beginning with a consonant sound.
"an" is used before words beginning with a vowel sound.

What is the difference between a vowel sound and a consonant sound? Here is a chart of all the vowel sounds.

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LionHeartIV'a' is used before nouns words starting with a consonant.
(And 'an' is used before words starting with a vowel.)

"outstanding" doesn't start with a consonant. It starts with a vowel.

(As already mentioned above, "consonant" and "vowel" refer to consonant and vowel sounds

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