student asking question

When is it appropriate to write 'a' compared to 'an'? For example, "It's an honor." and "It's a cab."

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Use 'a' in front of words that have a consonant sound in the beginning. Here are a few examples: A dog, a pool, a cab, a car, a horse, a vacuum. Use 'an' in front of words that have a vowel sound in the beginning. Here are a few examples: An airplane, an octopus, an honor, an icicle. Since the word 'honor' has a vowel sounding beginning, you would need to use the word 'an' in front of it.

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