Grammar Zone | a historic or an historic?

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about "a" and "an."Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:50JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are in the grammar zone and we're going to talk about ohh and on.00:01:02JackIn social, what is the difference between those two articles? Why do we?00:01:07JackWhy do we separate those? We have two different words for them.00:01:12XochitlUM.00:01:13XochitlBecause they have to agree with the next word. So if.00:01:20XochitlThe next word starts with a the vowel. Then it has to be a N.00:01:26XochitlSo, for example, an elephant an A A.00:01:33JackAn igloo.00:01:34XochitlOn apple.00:01:35JackYeah.00:01:36XochitlYeah, an English an apple. And if it's a, it's because the next the following thing that you're referring to. Uh. Noun that you're referring to, I guess, usually starts with a a consonant and not a vowel. So it'd be like a pie, a cake.00:01:56XochitlA A car.00:01:59XochitlAnd etcetera, etcetera. Just anything that starts with the continent and then on and.00:02:04JackA podcast.00:02:06XochitlYeah, podcast.00:02:07JackMHM.00:02:09XochitlAnd an is for anything that starts with.00:02:11XochitlA vowel, I think.00:02:12XochitlIt's because it it does sound. It does make it sound smoother, like think about saying a elephant or a elephant instead of an an elephant. It just avoids your vowel noises all mushing together.00:02:21JackYes.00:02:27JackRight. It's very awkward in English to have two vowel sounds together. You we can't do that, right? They need to be interrupted by a consonant sound like uh.00:02:39JackUh, like a a egg is is 2 two vowel sounds together, right?00:02:45JackSo yeah, we can't. It's just a, it's a a phonetic rule in English that you just.00:02:45발표자Yeah.00:02:52JackIt's much easier if you break it up with the with the consonant. So we say on an egg, an apple. Any glue like that.00:03:02XochitlWell, thanks.00:03:03JackYeah.00:03:05XochitlYeah, I think that's pretty much it. It just keep in mind.00:03:09XochitlIf it's going to start with a consonant, make sure that you are using A and then if it's going to start with the vowel, the next following we're just going to start with the vowel. Make sure that you're doing AN on and yeah, that's.00:03:21JackRight.00:03:22JackWhat about? What about a an hour?00:03:25JackAnd that's an H.00:03:26XochitlUh.00:03:27JackSo we should say our.00:03:28XochitlYeah, that's true.00:03:30XochitlYeah, but you don't you say an hour. Ha. There are some exceptions to this rule, and I think it comes down to if that consonant is silent and our age is silent. So you're still making two vowel sounds. So you would do an AM hour instead.00:03:42발표자Right.00:03:49JackWhat about source? Yeah.00:03:49XochitlOf an hour.00:03:52XochitlBut see, that's not.00:03:54JackIt's not horse. Yeah, we say on horse.00:03:56XochitlYeah, I don't know why is it like that. Jake. Jack.00:04:01JackMy my name is Jack by.00:04:02JackThe way no, no, no, you're you. You are. You're exactly right. It it doesn't. The rule is not. It's not a spelling rule.00:04:12JackIt's a. It's a. It's a phonetic rule. It's a sound rule, so if it sounds like a vowel, we use on and so our is a silent H so we say an hour.00:04:26JackBut horse, we actually pronounce the H sound, so we say a horse.00:04:31JackSo so it's it's doesn't come down to spelling a lot, a lot of teachers teach it as a spelling rule in in school in grammar school, but it's not. And this is where a very strange word that a very strange example emerges here with historic.00:04:52JackI hear it all the time on the news N historic event.00:04:58JackAnd there's no reason to say. And historic if you're saying, if you're pronouncing the H, it would be all historic, not N historic. Have you?00:05:09JackHeard that before.00:05:09XochitlYeah, I I have heard that mistake. A historic. But yeah, it is a historic event. But Jack, I'm confused because when you do.00:05:20XochitlOh yeah, that's true.00:05:22XochitlA horse? A historic event.00:05:26JackYeah.00:05:26XochitlAnd you wouldn't say umm horse because it's again you're pronouncing the.00:05:33JackYeah. When people say unhistoric, they're they're being, they think they're being super smart, but they're actually being too clever that they're actually wrong. It's like, yes, exactly. It's kind of a it's a it's a weird, like academia thing. I've heard it so many times, and it used to drive my.00:05:33XochitlAh.00:05:43XochitlThey're overthinking.00:05:53JackMy my teacher in my university crazy.00:05:57JackWhen when she would hear that. And so I kind of learned from my teacher. It was like, oh, no, you gotta follow the rules, right? All historic. But if you say historic and you don't say the H, you could say N historic event. But historic is not really a word we use, right. We say historic with an H.00:06:17JackSo a historic event we have stuff.00:06:22XochitlCrazy. All right, it's nice if you have any more questions for us or any more grammar issues that you would like us to resolve here on the podcast, make sure to leave us a comment down below at A-Z, newspodcast.com shoot us an e-mail at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com and also make sure that you join the WeChat or WhatsApp groups to make sure that you can talk to Jack.00:06:23JackYeah.00:06:43XochitlDirectly and join the conversation there. Remember the Jack and I are now doing a special corner. Yeah, English corner. So that's a lot of fun. It's only 80 RMB or 10 USD dollars.00:06:49JackEnglish corner.00:07:00XochitlPer month. So for 20 classes you're basically paying $0.50 a class, and it's really great. It's a community where a lot of people are excellent English speakers and we really enjoyed putting it together. It's one hour a day from Monday to Friday, and if you want more information, make sure to message.00:07:05JackExactly.00:07:19XochitlOr Jack directly on the WeChat or WhatsApp groups.00:07:23XochitlAnd we'll see you guys next time.00:07:24XochitlBye bye bye.00:07:25JackBye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/grammar-zone-a-historic-or-an-historic/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy