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English: A vs. An

365 points · 529 comments · azhenley

  1. mh-cx · · focus · HN ↗
    Non-native speaker here. To me in spoken language both "unicorn" and "hour" have a combination of 2 vowels in the beginning. Let me transcribe them as "ee-oo" and "aa-oo" here.

    Why is the aa-oo combination at the beginning of "hour" considered a vowel but the ee-oo in "uniform" is a consonant?

    1. IanCal · · focus · HN ↗
      Uniform starts with a y sound and hour has a w sound after the first a - aw ur.
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