Is the following usage of 'an' article correct?

Question

Statement : What an illiterate group?

Is the above statement correct or do I have to use 'a' instead of 'an' since it succeeds 'what'?

It doesn't matter what is before the article. What is important is what follows the article. See also: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/152/when-should-i-use-a-vs-an — Omid Reza Abbasi, Jul 02 '17 at 11:33

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 02 '17 at 15:09

2

The usage of a/an depends on the sound of the first letter of the word it precedes. In your case, the word after the 'a(n)' particle begins with a vowel sound, therefore 'an' is the correct particle to use. If it were a consonant sound, 'a' would be used instead.

Examples:

I saw a monkey.
I saw an elephant.
I found an M&M candy in my shoe.

edited Jul 02 '17 at 15:09

Devil07

4,046

answered Jul 02 '17 at 11:32

as4s4hetic

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Is the following usage of 'an' article correct?

1 Answers1