Indefinite article

Before some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent) h in an unstressed first syllable, such as hallucination, hilarious, historic(al), horrendous, and horrific, some (especially older) British writers prefer to use an over a (an historical event, etc.). An is also preferred before hotel by some writers of British English (probably reflecting the relatively recent adoption of the word from French, where the h is not pronounced - but not in this exercise). The use of "an" before words beginning with an unstressed "h" is more common generally in British English than American. American writers normally use a in all these cases, although there are occasional uses of an historic(al) in American English. According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, such use is increasingly rare in British English too. Unlike British English, American English typically uses an before herb, since the h in this word is silent for most Americans.

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Exercise 1

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Choose a or an as the indefinite article
aan�man

aan�apple

aan�uniform

aan�dog

aan�order

aan�icecream

aan�girl

aan�hotel

aan�instrument

aan�elephant

aan�lion

aan�family

aan�university

aan�big apple

aan�old house

aan�elegant dress

aan�good friend

aan�elderly gentleman

aan�important plan

aan�yellow car

aan�honest man