this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
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I only do this as I like to learn new things myself and appreciate if people correct me.
The title is wrong. It should be “A European…” rather than “An European…”.
The way you can decide which one to use is by looking at the proceeding words first syllable sound. If it has a vowel sound you use an if it doesn’t, then you use a. It’s important to note it’s vowel sound and not just a vowel.
Examples:
Thank you for the correction. I wasn't sure (but also to lazy to check)
I've edited the title
No problem. Thank you for being receptive to my comment.
Sometimes people get mad, and I don’t get why as I love to learn new things and it may help other people who may be non-native speakers to learn the quirks of English.
Sorry, native speaker and language teacher here and I disagree. This is dialect dependent, but in my dialect at least, it’s the glottal stop at the beginning of a vowel sound that triggers it. Saying “an European” for me is like saying “an yellow.”
I’m confused as you say you don’t agree, but also using an European doesn’t sound right, which is right as it should be a European as European starts with a yoo sound rather than a vowel sound.
It would be a yellow as yellow also starts with a consonant sound.
That’s because I read your comment wrong 😅
No harm no foul. 😊