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Why isn't it "an adblocker"?

I know that it should be a, but why does an feel so better and is an correct in this case?

ColleenV
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Sainan
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    How do you know that it should be 'a' and not 'an'? – ColleenV May 11 '16 at 16:07
  • Hi Timmy, I just realized you are new to ELL - welcome! This post on meta has some good advice for writing questions that will get a good response on ELL: http://meta.ell.stackexchange.com/q/439/9161 It really helps us write a better answer if we know more about what you're thinking and why. If someone told you specifically to say "a adblocker', that is one situation; another situation is if someone explained a rule to you and you thought that meant you should use 'a' instead of 'an' for adblocker. We would be able to tell you why the rule doesn't apply if we knew what you were told. – ColleenV May 11 '16 at 16:19

2 Answers2

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It should be an, because the word "adblocker" begins with a vowel sound (that isn't a long u or y).

Whoever is telling you it should be a is wrong.

LawrenceC
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Standard English, which is just one dialect of English, would use an before adblocker. So on a test of standard English, you should definitely use an.

However, some native speakers say and even write a adblocker. It's hard to say that this is truly not a standard option (or could not become one), since over time the usages for an have deceased (an used to be used before such words as university and use, but not any more). Language use is always changing.

Alan Carmack
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