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Why is 'an' used with 'an honour'? Isn't 'an' limited to the vowels?

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Because the 'h' is silent in honour (or, in America, honor).

Sometimes 'an' is used even if the 'h' is aspirated, as in "This was an historic occasion."

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    But that's because it is pronounced "an 'istoric occasion at an 'otel", but "the historic hotel" has fully aspirated h's; English is weird! You also, of course, get "an umbrella" but "a ukelele".
    – Jonathan Leffler
    Commented Dec 8, 2010 at 7:16
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    @Jonathan: I frequently hear people say "an historic occasion" with no elision of the "h".
    – Robusto
    Commented Dec 8, 2010 at 11:28
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    I can't help it if they weren't brought up to speak proper, can I? :D
    – Jonathan Leffler
    Commented Dec 8, 2010 at 14:28
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    @JonathanLeffler: "An umbrella" vs. "a ukelele" isn't weird. Ukelele starts with a consonant sound (a y glide).
    – LarsH
    Commented Aug 28, 2013 at 15:36
  • @JonathanLeffler do you have any idea in what areas "an 'istoric" is the common pronunciation? Where I live (Austin, TX) I'm pretty sure most people would say "a historic".
    – Andy
    Commented Nov 26, 2016 at 16:32
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As I understand it, an 'An' should be used before words that sound like they start with a vowel.

This can lead to ambiguity like 'SQL database'. This could either be written as 'an SQL database' or 'a SQL database' depending upon whether you pronounce SQL as 'S-Q-L' or 'sequel'.

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  • Good point, I never think of it as Sequel and so always use AN
    – mgb
    Commented Mar 28, 2011 at 5:16
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    A vowel is, first and foremost, a sound. The "a"/"an" rule is a rule based on sound.
    – nohat
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 23:24
  • Thank you very much. This answer is very helpful as well.
    – JFW
    Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 16:18

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