Europe is an exception to the rule as are others. As a native speaker I’d never even noticed this; but An European immediately sounds wrong; just like putting ‘an’ instead of ‘a’ UFO/unit/one etc… sounds wrong.
Isn’t it consistent though? It’s pronounced “juropean”, so it does not start woth a vowel-sound, which is the (consistent) rule as I’ve learned it. I believe this only has to do with the ease of which it is pronounced. Preceeding “an” to any vowel-sound makes the pronounciation flow better. Same with “a” before any consonant-sound.
I wasn’t aware the rule was based on phonetics; I was one of the many under the impression that the actual lettering that is the defining article (much like OP). I think it’s due to being monolingual. English being the only language I know… a lot of the languages rules are known subconsciously.
IE: I knew it’s ‘a one’; rather than ‘an one’… But couldn’t have told you why, other than it doesn’t sound right.
Europe is an exception to the rule as are others. As a native speaker I’d never even noticed this; but An European immediately sounds wrong; just like putting ‘an’ instead of ‘a’ UFO/unit/one etc… sounds wrong.
English eh, Why would it be consistent?
Isn’t it consistent though? It’s pronounced “juropean”, so it does not start woth a vowel-sound, which is the (consistent) rule as I’ve learned it. I believe this only has to do with the ease of which it is pronounced. Preceeding “an” to any vowel-sound makes the pronounciation flow better. Same with “a” before any consonant-sound.
@cyberwolfie @javiwhite but then you say “an EU diplomat”, and not “a EU diplomat”, right?
“An EU” follows the rule @cyberwolfie put forward.
when saying EU; the word starts with an E sound phonetically… Indicating it should be An rather than A.
I wasn’t aware the rule was based on phonetics; I was one of the many under the impression that the actual lettering that is the defining article (much like OP). I think it’s due to being monolingual. English being the only language I know… a lot of the languages rules are known subconsciously.
IE: I knew it’s ‘a one’; rather than ‘an one’… But couldn’t have told you why, other than it doesn’t sound right.