Thanks for the prompt reply Sascha! Both my parents were English teachers, and if I ever said "haitch" rather than "aitch" I would've had my bottom spanked!! Rgds Nigel -----Original Message----- From: Alex.Noon@xxxxxxxx [mailto:Alex.Noon@xxxxxxxx] Sent: Thursday, 17 June 2004 2:48 PM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Re: "An H" Verses "A H" Nigel Depends how Catholic you are - do you say "haitch" (originally the Catholic version I believe) or "aitch" (C of E)? You would use "a" for the former and "an" for the latter. Chheers Alex -----Original Message----- From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nigel Dawes Sent: Thursday, 17 June 2004 2:46 PM To: Austechwriter (austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Subject: atw: "An H" Verses "A H" Dear AuzTechies =20 Can you please explain to me why I so often see "an" precede a word beginning with H? =20 When I went to school, only words commencing with a vowel were preceded by "an". =20 Has anyone else experienced this annoyance? =20 Please enlighten me! =20 Thanks and Regards Nigel =20 --=20 Message protected by MailGuard: e-mail anti-virus, anti-spam and content filtering. http://www.mailguard.com.au/mg ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ************************************************** ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ************************************************** -- Message protected by MailGuard: e-mail anti-virus, anti-spam and content filtering. http://www.mailguard.com.au/mg ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **************************************************