<p>I just learned recently in AP Lit that all words that begin with H must be preceded by AN not A. I, along with the rest of my class, thought that only h words that begin with a vowel sound requre an, but apparently this is not true. Most of the prose I read, however, do not follow this rule, and it sounds pretty funky to say "an hamburger" (yeah, I did shout out "so we're supposed to say an hamburger??" in class with extreme skepticism.</p>
<p>No, no.</p>
<p>Only if you don't pronounce the H. You would put a*n* if you prounced Hamburger as (amburger).</p>
<p>not according to the official grammer rules. I used to think the same way but it's not true!! Ask your AP lit teacher!</p>
<p>You don't have to use "an" before any English word that begins with an "h." In fact, it is pretentious to do so. The only possible exception is if you find it appropriate to say, "This is an historic occasion."</p>
<p>Well this is from like the AP Official grammer thingy idk my teacher said it was official!</p>
<p>What about "an historic presidential election"?</p>
<p>you only do it if the h makes a vowel sound!
like "an honor"
not "an hamburger"</p>
<p>omg i thought that too but check an official grammer book or something! here, let me try to find something</p>
<p>World</a> Wide Words: Indefinite article before words starting with <i>h</i></p>
<p>here's an explanation sorta</p>
<p>I believe it is incorrect.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve only ever heard of the an rule in regards to words that begin with a vowel sound, regardless of the first letter. </p>
<p>The purpose of the rule is to make the sentence sound better. Imagine saying “an hatchet” as opposed to “a hatchet.” Which is easier to say?</p>
<p>:p lolz @ this thread.</p>
<p>“This is an historic occasion.” </p>
<p>That sounds strange.</p>
<p>I think the English use “an” before all words beginning with an ‘h’. At least that was the case with pre-20th century literature and poetry.</p>
<p>Finding “an” before an ‘h’ word is a common occurrence when going through the AP Lit syllabus. I guess you just have to get used to it.</p>
<p>Lol, so we have 3 hamburger threads? This is getting a little looking like McDonalds or Burger King.</p>
<p>Is this new grammatical change an hoax lol? :D</p>