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I've encountered the following sentence:

order a helmet

Shouldn't it be "order an helmet" instead?

IsaacLevon
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1 Answers1

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As a first approximation, "an" would be used if the initial "h" wasn't pronounced, as some variants of English do with "herb". In "helmet" the "h" is pronounced in most accents, so we use "a".

Of course being English it's never quite that simple - in "an hotel", which used to be common, the "h" is often clear. That has been known to apply to "herb" in British English too.

If, like me, you're from London (UK), you say be prone to dropping the "h". So speaking formally, I'd say "a helmet", but informally might say something more like "a nelmet"

Chris H
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    The reason that an hotel used to be considered correct, is that hotel was thought of as a French word and pronounced with a silent 'h' as in French. As the 'h' is now always pronounced in standard English, a is always used. – Kate Bunting Aug 17 '20 at 08:05
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    @KateBunting That's not true. I still hear some people using an hotel with a pronounced h. Just like I still hear people say an historic moment with a pronounced h. It seems to be more prevalent in the UK than the US. So "never" is a oversimplification. – Jason Bassford Aug 17 '20 at 08:29
  • @KateBunting I don't know if there's an element of hypercorrection, or what's going on, but there are definitely cases in British English in which both "n" and "h" are pronounced. They're not common though – Chris H Aug 17 '20 at 08:32
  • @KateBunting "As the 'h' is now always pronounced in standard English, a is always used." I am an 'an hotel' holdout. Maybe I got it from the BBC growing up in the 1950s and 60s. – Michael Harvey Aug 17 '20 at 09:34
  • Also an historic occasion, which I defend from accusations of affectation with this from Oxford: "the older form, with the silent h and the indefinite article an, is still encountered, especially among older speakers." – Michael Harvey Aug 17 '20 at 09:40
  • OK, all, you win. I said 'always' because I had checked several online dictionaries and found none that mentioned the silent 'h'. – Kate Bunting Aug 17 '20 at 10:58
  • @JasonBassford - "I still hear some people using an hotel with a pronounced h." I would never do this. An 'otel, an 'istoric occasion, an 'istorian, BUT a history book. For the avoidance of doubt, I don't speak with a London or Estuary accent. – Michael Harvey Aug 17 '20 at 11:01