An elephant, A European, An umbrella, A useful ... and something else like it?
An elephant
A European
An umbrella
A useful ...

I would like to know which one should I write "A European" or "An European". I learned that normally we use "an" in front of a word beginning with a vowel. So based on this knowledge, I wrote "An European" in a paper, but someone told me that I should have wrote "A European".
I am all confused now. Hope anyone can help me. Does someone know any example of this rare case?

Question

An elephant,  A European, An umbrella, A useful ... and something else like it?
An elephant 
A European
An umbrella
A useful ...

I would like to know which one should I write "A European" or "An European". I learned that normally we use "an" in front of a word beginning with a vowel. So based on this knowledge, I wrote "An European" in a paper, but someone told me that I should have wrote "A European".
I am all confused now. Hope anyone can help me. Does someone know any example of this rare case?

Answer

The use of a/an depends entirely on spoken English, not written English. If you pronounce a word (ie. a noun or adjective) with an open vowel, then use "an".

...a European, a university, a euphemism... (all begin with a 'y' sound)
BUT: an hour, an heir, an 'M', an 80th...

Answer

although "European" is spelt with a vowel (E), phonetically speaking, the word starts with a semivowel /j/, as in "You" /ju:/. Words that start with a semivowel are preceded by the article "a".

Answer

The usage of 'a' and 'an' is determined by the pronunciation and not by the spelling, as many people think.

You should say, therefore, “an hour” (because hour begins with a vowel sound) and “a history” (because history begins with a consonant sound).

Similarly you should say “a European” even if Euroean begins with a “u.” That is because the pronunciation begins with “yu”, which is a consonant sound.

Answer

When there is sound of vowel always use an. But sound of a,e,i ,o and u must be a like apple, e in elephant, u in umbrella etc. In these four words;
With European- a european as sound came first is u as in you..
With Elephant- an elephant as sound came first is aa as the sound came of e
With Umbrella- An umbrella as sound came first is a as the sound came of u
With useful- a useful as the sound came first is u as in you.

Answer

A simple explanation:
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/a-an.htm

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