Which is grammatically correct, "a elephant" or "an elephant"?
2023-04-19
This is what goPenpal answered
Hi there! Great question. The correct article to use before "elephant" in a sentence would be "an." In English grammar, we use "an" before words that begin with a vowel sound or a silent "h." Because "elephant" starts with a vowel sound, specifically the sound of "e", we use the article "an" instead of "a."
This rule applies to any word that starts with a vowel sound. For example, "an apple," "an orange," "an umbrella." On the other hand, when a word starts with a consonant sound, we use "a" before it. For instance, "a car," "a book," "a house."
Back to the use of articles with the word "elephant," you would say "an elephant," not "a elephant." This applies to all other words that start with the letter "e" that produce sounds like vowels, such as "an egg," "an ear," or "an envelope."
I hope that clears things up for you! Feel free to ask more questions if you have any.
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