Notes
As I'm sure you know, the important thing is the sound of the the first letter of the word, rather than whether it's a vowel or not.
- The letter U and the combination eu often include a /j/ sound at the beginning (like Y in yacht), for example both words in European Union. So these words are preceded by a
- The letter O can occasionally include a /w/ sound at the beginning, for example, in one), in which case they are also preceded by a.
- The letter H is generally aspirated (sounded) nowadays, so is usually preceded by a. In some words beginning with H, especially some of those that came from French, the H often used to be silent, so they would be preceded by an, but this practice has largely died out now.
- Some people, however, still talk of 'an historic occasion' or of 'an horrific accident'. As they usually pronounce the H, many authorities consider this unnecessary (see the article at Oxford Dictionaries - link below), but it has to be said that this is done by some highly educated people, including some well-respected broadcasters. For more on this see my post (How I ngrammed an historic occasion), and the post by Barrie England at Caxton, both linked to below.
- The only words regularly beginning with a silent H nowadays are: hour, honour, heir, honest and their derivatives. You will also hear some Americans pronounce herb with a silent H, but in British English the H is pronounced.
- Some consonants, when used as initials, start with a vowel sound, for example F (eff), L (el), M (em) and N (en), so are preceded by an.
Trivia corner - in standard English, the letter H has been called aitch, without any H sound, although in Cockney dialect, it has been tradionally called haitch, with the H sounded. It seems that young British Standard English speakers are increasingly doing the same, and saying haitch. But I wouldn't regard it as standard just yet. (See the item at BBC News)
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