We should say an hour because hour starts with a vowel sound. Similarly the word university also makes a consonant sound and that is the reason why it is preceded by “a” not “an”. In unicorn, the pronunciation starts with “yu” which is a consonant sound. We should say a unicorn (a mythical creature which resembles a horse) even if it starts with “u”. However it should be kept in mind that the usage of “a” and “an” depends on the sound of the word (vowel/consonant sound) Note: If there is only one vowel in the word (can) then it will make a short sound but if there are two vowels in a word (cane) the first one will make a long sound and the second one will make a short sound or be silent.Īccording to the Grammatical rule “a” should be used before words that begin with consonant ( b,c,d,f,g etc) and “an” should be used before words that begin with vowels (a,e,i,o,u). For example: got, mom, dad, eat.īelow mentioned are examples of long and short vowels. In the above mentioned example, a short vowel sound (vowel a ) is heard in task.Ī vowel usually has a short sound when it appears in the middle of the word.

Here a long vowel sound (vowel a) is heard in bake and cake. A vowel becomes a long vowel when the sound of the letter is heard just as it is in the alphabet. For example when it appears at the beginning of the word it makes a consonant sound (for example yellow) and it makes a vowel sound when it comes at the end of the word (for example hairy). The letter y sometimes acts as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant.

Consonant is a letter of the alphabet that makes a consonant sound. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y. Vowel is a letter that makes a definite sound by itself. There are two kinds of letters in English language.

What are the vowels