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A or an? „An” umbrella but „a” University

Have you ever wondered when do we use „a” and when „an” in front of words starting with „u”? Or even with „e” or „h”?

Look at these:  an egg, a euroan uncle, an umbrella, a university, an hour, an honest student, a house,

They are all correct. Let’s see the rules:

It is a  /ə/ before most sounds:

a cat, a dog, a house

It is an /ən/ before vowel sounds:

an apple,  an uncle

It is an /ən/ before the letter ‘h’ only when it is silent, we do not read the ‘h’:

an hour, an honest student

And:

a university, a euro, a uniform

It is a /ə/ not an /ən/ when the next letters are ‘u’ or ‘eu’ and we read them /j/:

a university, a uniform, a euro