A few days ago
Anonymous

Word experts, please help?

How come in English, we say (example):

“It’s an hour to two”

not

“It’s A hour to two”?

Top 5 Answers
A few days ago
Anonymous

Favorite Answer

In situations like these, the “H” is silent, which allows for the next letter, the vowel “O” to be the sound that is pronounced. If you change the word to, say for example, Historic, the “H” is no longer silent and you would saying something like:

“This is a historic event.”

Though, I know some who still use “an” in this case, which is fundamentally wrong.

I know, it’s tricky.

3

A few days ago
skydancerwi
One should best say : It is One o’clock! But should there ever be such unusual need to say it’s an hour to two, it is because the h, before the n is silent – therefore a vowel should not be followed by the sound of another vowel, even if it is a consenant, yet silent. As would be the case in “a” (h)
1

A few days ago
dcc045
Although hour doesn’t start with a vowel, it does start with a letter allowing a vowel sound. It sounds better to the human ear to use an.
1

A few days ago
Warrior Guardian
Becasue the word “AN” is describing the thing ; which is “hour”. It just sounds right too. Proper grammar
0

A few days ago
julia j
h followed by a vowel is treated as a vowel. Thus “an” rather than “a”
0