A vs. AN: It’s All About the Sound Spotted a friend posting "an year older" today and it inspired me for this post. It is a common misconception that the choice between "a" and "an" depends on the first letter of a word. In reality, it depends entirely on the first Sound. We learned the basic rule: A + consonant sound AN + vowel sound So Y is a vowel letter, right? Case closed? Nope! The word year starts with the letter Y, but phonetically it begins with a consonant sound /j/ (as in yes or yellow). That is why the correct form is A year, not An year. Here are a few more examples where the sound overrides the spelling: A university (starts with the consonant sound /j/) A European city (starts with the consonant sound /j/) AN hour (the letter 'h' is silent, so it starts with a vowel sound) Always rely on what you hear rather than what you see. Quick Quiz Choose between A or AN for the following items: union honest opinion UFO umbrella one-minute delay Feel free to leave your answers in the comments! Hope this post will be helpful in your English journey!