5 ms·
You're spot on about how we say "an herb" in the US. Interestingly, it seems "hotel" is the exact opposite... I've never heard someone in the US drop the "h" .
by JshWright 13y ago
You're spot on about how we say "an herb" in the US. Interestingly, it seems "hotel" is the exact opposite... I've never heard someone in the US drop the "h" . We say "a hotel".
EDIT: Wow, five overlapping replies in two minutes, all correcting the "hotel" thing... Just goes to prove the aphorism that the best way to get help on the internet is to post an incorrect answer (perhaps Cloudflare should have tried that...)
- louthy 13y agoIn the UK we say "a herb" and pronounce the H.
- sspiff 13y agoDon't you also pronounce the "h" in hotel? I always say (and write) "a hotel" instead of "an otel".
- louthy 13y agoDepends what part of the UK you're in, where I grew up the H would be dropped. But yes, the proper English pronunciation would be "a hotel".
- sspiff 13y agoThanks. English is not my first language and I never heard it with the H dropped before, so I was afraid I was just chronically exposed to an error and copied it.
- JshWright 13y agoRight, and occurring to the GP, you _don't_ pronounce the H in Hotel. The exact opposite is true in the US.
- gknoy 13y agoThe neat thing is (to me), his rule still makes sense. If I were listening to someone who spoke a dialect of English different than mine, it would still sound natural if they chose their "a" vs "an" in the "right" way: # yes a hotel an 'otel # no an hotel a 'otel