Syntax experts, please illuminate me...

[Griffolion]

Hey everyone! I'll keep this short and sweet.

It's my belief that when naming someone/something, you adjust "a"/"an" based on whether or not the first letter of the term is a consonant/vowel (respectively).

Example:

"I am an expert."

"I am a tool."


Question:

In the written word, what is the proper what to deal with this, but when the consonant has a vowel like sound?

"I need to buy an HDMI cable today."

or

"I need to buy a HDMI cable today."


I personally go by what I know and go by the rule at the top, and despite it not sounding entirely right in my mind, I stick with it. But I see so many people going off what I assume is the more phonetically elegant sentence (the top one in the question example).

Syntax experts, what's your thesis?

 

[Silvanus]

The first one is correct, I'm pretty sure. It's specifically the pronunciation which determines whether to use 'a' or 'an', and I think written sentences follow the same rules.

So, you say; "I need to buy an HDMI cable", but you'd also say, "I need to buy a hard-drive". The letter is the same, but the pronunciation determines the syntax.


I think that's how it works, anyway.

 

[shootthebandit]

Written i would always use 'a' because its proceded by a constanant. Where as spoken it depends on how you pronounce "H" where it starts with a vowel sound or a constanant sound

Have some illumination now

 

[Daystar Clarion]

As a rule, 'an' is a prefix for words that are vowels, as well as vowel like sounds.


So, for instance.

'An House' is wrong, because the 'H' in this instance is pronounced sharply, and just doesn't flow from 'an'.


'An HDMI cable' is correct however, because the 'H' in this instance is softer, if you were to try to spell the 'H' sound in this instance, it would most likely start with an 'E' or an 'A' sound.

 

[Eleuthera]

I'm not at all an expert, but my take on this would be "an HDMI cable."

Phonetics rule in this case I think.

"I own a house", "I'll be there in an hour."

 

[shrekfan246]

Written i would always use 'a' because its proceded by a constanant. Where as spoken it depends on how you pronounce "H" where it starts with a vowel sound or a constanant sound

The person reading is (typically) going to "pronounce" the words they're reading, even if it's silently in their head. Wouldn't it make more sense to type as you would speak?

OT: If you're Australian or certain regions of European English, "a HDMI cable" could be correct.

Personally, I wouldn't say "a HDMI cable" or "a hour" or "a honest man", so I don't type it like that either, because it's simply clunkier for my mind to read it back. It may or may not be 'correct', but at the end of the day that's just one of the many eccentricities of language.

 

[Thaluikhain]

It's how it's pronounced. If you pronounce H as "aitch", then it's "an aitch". If you pronounce it as "haitch", then "a haitch", though I find that one a bit unwieldy.

 

[NoMercy Rider]

The 'a' vs 'an' is one of those "gray" areas of grammar, and I believe a lot of it stems from British vs American grammar usage. Though both examples are more or less correct, I think it is more widely accepted to use the rules based on the phonetic pronunciation of the word. So for the example you provided, "an HDMI" would be more acceptable, but both are correct.

What really throws me off is using 'an' before a word with a soft H. Like, "let me teach you an historic lesson." Just does not sound right to me... at all. I know that is the "correct" way, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

'An' goes before vowel sounds, not just vowels. At least in American English.

The general rule of language is that if it sounds wrong, it probably is wrong.

 

[lacktheknack]

"I'll be at a house in an hour."

Most people "H" as "aych", meaning you preface acronyms starting with it with "an".

"An" is only used to make the language flow. For demonstration, try saying "a hour" a few times.

 

[BeeGeenie]

The written form should follow the spoken form, if for no other reason than that it will still make sense if it is read aloud.

Therefore "an HDMI cable" is the correct form.