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"A person" or "an ornament" are normal instances of 'A' being followed by consonants or vowels. However the rule seems to have exceptions when a word sounds like it starts with the opposite, such as "an hour" or "a url" (when url is pronounced letter by letter).

Is there a name for this kind of exception?

Corey Ogburn
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    These are not exceptions. They all follow the exact same rule: "an" before a vowel sound, "a" otherwise. "Hour" begins with a vowel sound, hence "an". "URL" does not begin with a vowel sound, thus "a". This has been covered to death on this site. We even have a dedicated question specifically for "an hour", and one specifically about "a URL". We also have a blog post covering all bases. Please do search the site before asking. Thank you. – RegDwigнt May 08 '14 at 15:05
  • These questions and blog post all seem to be about usage. This question is not about when to use one over the other. I'm asking about a name for this "exception" to the rule. It turns out it's less of an exception and more of a misquoted rule by my teachers. – Corey Ogburn May 08 '14 at 15:09
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    The 'exceptions' are 'an historical', and one or two others, where the h is aspirated but an is perversely used. Note that a few people do not aspirate 'historical', so this would not constitute an exception. – Edwin Ashworth May 08 '14 at 21:16

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I wouldn't consider them exceptions if you understand that the a/an rule depends on phonetics instead of spelling. If the letter following a/an has a vowel sound (which it does with an unsounded "h"), use "an". URL is a bit trickier, because the "u" is actually a phonetic glide that acts as a consonant (and should be used with "a"). I would agree there are exceptions (which have no name as far as I know), but these are not on that list.

emsoff
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