"A historic" or "an historic"?

"A historic" or "an historic"?

You probably know the grammar rule that says you use an before vowel sounds (e.g. an accident, an item, an hour) and a otherwise; e.g. a book, a report, a hotel.

Following this rule, we would say "a historic", not "an historic".

Words of three or more syllables that start with h are treated differently by some speakers, though. For example, which of these pairs of sentences sounds correct to you?

It is a historic occasion.
It is an historic occasion.

snip

http://www.betterwritingskills.com/tip-w005.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22an+historic%22&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22a+historic%22&btnG=Search

right to me...Especially when you consider that ending "an" is usually followed by a word beginning with a vowel :shrug:

the one that narrowly follows a rule.

Grammar is in fact generative and transformational.

I know this from listening to BBC newsreaders. :)

They don't speak American.

unless you're simply renaming it.

I haven't trusted them since John Eeejit Humphreys made a big fuss about saying "referendums" rather than "referenda" (which was about the last time that I listened to "Today" now I get the far more calming Morning on 3).

It's all rather like the fuss about who/whom - who just sounds so wrong when the word should be whom. It sounds damn ugly.

Which brings me to my own little rule of English grammar - it is one which will actually carry one a heck (or indeed an herk - the which I think does lean to an rather a when pronounced vociferously) or a long way. If it sounds ugly, it's probably bad grammar.

Prime example, the post-positioned preposition - a crime of which I am frequently guilty, yet one which is incredibly ugly, so too the split infinitive (even Fowler is soppy on this, but does admit that most of the it's an ugly construction)...I could go on all evening - but as my grammar is horrifically bad I should really go and remove this beam from my eye.

I think that an historic both follows the rules and sounds right.

One can take two approaches, the first is to consider what a vowel actually is - the second is to say "a, e, i, o, and u" are the vowels.

In the latter case then obviously h is a consonant, and thus the rule says that it should be "a historic" but the sheer fact that "an historic" is far easier to pronounce demonstrates that the aspiration of the "h" is such (when the following is unstressed) that it is actually a vowel sound - despite not being on the list we were all taught in English lessons at the age of 7.

We don't say "an hill", or "an hen", or even "an history". "An historic" doesn't make sense, and doesn't sound right, because the "H" isn't silent. I guess it's becoming more accepted, but it still doesn't look or sound right to me. I always say or write "A historic".

Which has a silent aitch. You have to remember that English is mainly a mishmash of German, Latin and French words, which goes to make it one of the richest vocabulary languages in the world.
When the Normans conquered the Saxons in 1066, the Norman nobles came over and kept on speaking French, while the serfs etc kept on speaking Old English, but gradually the French words leaked out to the broader population.

It's a hard h, as someone else explained in this thread, so "a" should be used. We don't say "'istory." We say "history". We don't say "'istoric". We say "historic." It's based on pronunciation, regardless of the source of the word. British pronunciation may be different, and I don't know what the hard rule is over there. But, when I hear someone speaking in an American accent say "An Historic", I cringe, even though many think it's correct. We say hour with a silent h, so an hour is correct.

so I should know. :) (Yeah, right, probably most historians would disagree with me, too!)

We don't say "an istoric"; we say "a historic." And it makes sense, unless you want to say "he was in an huff."

Or "a Honest man"
Thought not, as I said in a previous post, it's the legacy of the Norman invasion of Britain.
Histoire=history
Heure=hour
Honette=honest

All the French words have silent aitches.

in order to determine whether you should use "a" or "an."

Historic is one of those words which can use either, but traditionally, it's "an."

On the other hand, you have a word like "hospital" and saying "an hospital" just doesn't sound or look right, even though it is. Since the "h" is a harder sound in the word, it's fine and appropriate to use the "a" instead.

"A herd" of buffalo
"An honest" man
The right to "a hearing"
"an honor" to be nominated

If the "h" sound is weak, use "an" and if it's hard, use "a." Just say the word out loud in order to see which one fits.

"A Hyphenate"

If the 'h' sound is clearly audible, you use the 'a' if it's not and if the first sound of the word in question is a vowel sound, use the 'an'.

'An historic' drives me crazy. I hear it often, though it seems to be one of those 'optional' things where either one is considered correct (which is another thread in an of itself) but, personally, it makes me cringe.

You wouldn't say 'an histrionic woman', would you?

Which is close to what 'an historic moment' turns me into.

Most Brits would probably tend to say "an historic", because most British accents tend to utilize a soft h in that spot. I can't think of any regional American accents that might primarily use "an historic", because the American h tends to carry a lot more weight.

where I grew up. We have kept the Queen's English for a significant amount of time. :)

wherein Hawkeye was trying to get a harmonica for a kid in post-op who was injured in battle, and to do so he impersonated Charles on the phone with some colonel or something. He said, "I want... an harmonica."

B.J. and Klinger, eavesdropping, looked incredulously at each other and mouthed the words, "An harmonica?"

Someday, I hope to write an history of stuff like this. :P