"an yellow" or "a yellow"

Question

Please specify "an yellow" or "a yellow". Thanks

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

a yellow.

Anonymous · Answer

0 an are used to a word that start with a vowel letters. and a are used to a word that start with a consonant letter..02br
00so, it should be "a yellow"0-

CalifJim · Answer

0Initial 01b00y02b00 is never treated as a vowel unless a consonant immediately follows it.02br
01i00an ytterbium compound02i02br
01i00an yttrium molecule02i02br
01i00a yellow dress02i02br
01i00a year later02i02br
00CJ 0-

Anonymous · Answer

I think it has more to do with how the first letter sounds out loud than anything else. "A yellow" is used because the Y actually sounds as such. With http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium, the Y sounds like 'ee', a vowel, and so we use "an yttrium".

Similarly, the first sound of 'user' is exactly the same as 'you', rather like a consonant, so we use "a user". In contrast, the first sound of 'under-carriage' is a vowel, so we use "an under-carriage".

I think this has probably developed from the ease of speaking this brings to the English speaker. It's easier to say "A yellow" than to say "An yellow".

So wherever the first sound of a word is a consonant, use "a", and wherever it is a vowel, use "an".

For example:

A lion
A witch
A user
A year
A ubiquity

An earthling
An apple
An underling
An aeroplane

etc.

Anonymous · Answer

This is an yellow star

BarbaraPA · Answer

AnonymousThis is an yellow star

No.
This is a yellow star.

"an yellow" or "a yellow"

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