It almost makes me cry—that nice little word “an” slipping into an unmarked language grave even as I write this. So sad to be unappreciated.

That gentle little word elides so gracefully into all those beginning-vowel words. It quietly and unobtrusively avoids the uncouth grunty “uh” sounds.

Only a few hours ago I was listening to an educated man who had written an important book on economics. It was interesting to see how he—and many others—dealt with the “a/an” word; he simply made a long pause between the words “a” and “economic.” Sorry, guy--Ph.D. or not, that doesn’t make it right.

Here’s the rule for “A” and “AN”:
1. The article “A” precedes all words which begin with a CONSONANT.
2. The article “AN” precedes all words which begin with a VOWEL: a, e, i, o, u.

This applies to written English and spoken English.

Just try saying these examples out loud: In the first example, pronounce the “A” as a long A (eh-eee)

*The caterpillar ate A ANT before A EAGLE ate him.
*She made a major boo-boo when she pressed A EIGHT instead of A EIGHTEEN on the keypad.
*A UGLY urn was on sale, but the price made it almost beautiful
See how awkward it is, even if it is good exercise for your diaphragm!

Now try pronouncing the “A” as “UH”. This is what you hear most often. (Grunt grunt.)

**The caterpillar ate UH ANT before UH EAGLE ate him.
**She made a major boo-boo when she pressed UH EIGHT instead of UH EIGHTEEN on the keypad.
**UH UGLY urn was on sale, but the price made it almost beautiful

Notice how your throat has to work hard to begin each UH. It not only takes unnecessary energy (and may be dangerous after a hearty meal) it’s really ugly to listen to!

Now try using “AN” and see how much better the words flow, and how much more pleasing they sound.

* * The caterpillar ate AN ANT before AN EAGLE ate him.
* * She made a major boo-boo when she pressed AN EIGHT instead of AN EIGHTEEN on the keypad.
* * AN UGLY urn was on sale, but the price made it almost beautiful.
* * AN ICY wind is coming up and we’d better gallop to the barn!
* * AN ORANGE was in her lunch basket, but somebody snitched it. Woe…

Classical singers know that there is also a difference in the pronunciation of “THE”. 1. Before a consonant, it is THUH. 2. Before a vowel, however, THEE is the preferred pronunciation.

*THUH KANGAROO jumped almost over THE stream. Splash! *THEE APE had better table manners in her cage than did the Vice-President-of-Stuff at THE fancy black-tie dinner.

Here’s to mellifluous A-ing and AN-ing, THEE-ing and THUH-ing!

Carole McMichaels http://www.getridofpublicspeakingfears.com