3 ms·

I say "an historical event" and I also say "a history lesson".

• IshKebab 2y ago
  Precisely. That is incorrect because the purpose of "an" is to make the first part of a word easier to say, and "historical" and "history" start in exactly the same way. You're only doing it because you've heard other people do it and you think there's some special rule for it. Maybe subconsciously even. And don't say "you can't say something is wrong in language because prescriptivism Vs descriptivism etc." Yes generally it is the case that language is defined by how it is used. This is an exception, where something has a very very clear purpose and usage, and you're doing it wrong. I actually can't think of any clearer cases where the prescriptivists are right. It would have to be something so obvious you don't even think about it, like using spaces between words. Yet for some reason everyone messes up "a historical". It's as bizarre as if everyone omitted spaces before "historical" but not "history" or any other words.
  • dpe82 2y ago
    Hah, ok. The grammar police have yet to pull me over. I'll continue speaking as I do, thank you.