ToBE #8 : Indefinite articles

Indefinite articles : a, an.
Q : Why do we need two indefinite articles?
A : To assist pronunciation. When two vowel sounds appear next to each other, they tend to get fused into one sound : eg., boat, read, pour, etc.
To prevent that, 'an' is used when followed by a vowel sound.

To emphasize, use 'an' when followed by a vowel sound, not necessarily a vowel. Examples:

• He is an honest man. <= 'h' is silent in honest, therefore, 'honest' starts with a vowel sound.
• He is a European. <= 'E' is a vowel, but the word starts with the sound 'yuro..'. Therefore, use 'a', not 'an'.
• He is a Senior Analyst. <= Quite clear, I hope.
• He is an SA. <= 'SA' starts with a vowel sound 'ess', hence we precede it with 'an'.