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Grammar and Style » General Reference » A vs. An » The Only Tricky Part

For most words, knowing whether to use "a" or "an" is fairly simple: an apple a dog a rainy day an elevator There are only two tricky situations. The first is with words that begin with an "h" or a "u." These letters can have either a consonant sound or a vowel sound: an umbrella a hallway a unicyle an honest answer The second tricky situation is when you use abbreviations, which can begin with a sound that is different from the letter they begin with: an F.B.I. agent a U.F.O. an M.V.P. award •In either case, use "a" or "an" according to the beginning sound of the abbreviation or word. A quick quiz

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