Use of 'an' vs 'a'

Question

I am a little confused around the usage of an vs a

I know the basic vowel rule but the following are the usages that confuse me.Can someone please tell which of the following are correct and the corresponding language rules -

Success Factors....an SAP company
it's an year long process
I only want a yes for an answer

For first bullet, see Do you use “a” or “an” before acronyms? For the second and third bullets bullet: in modern English, "an year" is wrong and "a yes" is correct. For historical context, see Why is it “an yearly”? — herisson, May 06 '16 at 15:58
Possible duplicate of Do you use "a" or "an" before acronyms? — , May 07 '16 at 04:17

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

0

Here are the proper rules:

Success Factors....an SAP company

it's a year long process

I only want a yes for an answer**

But watch out for the vowel rules - they're not always so straightforward:

An 800 number
A unanimous vote
An unanticipated result
An honest decision.
An x-mas tree

http://home.nerbonne.org/A-vs-An/

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

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answered May 06 '16 at 16:02

lux

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I think that, generally, if you were to spell the start of the word phonetically, then apply the vowel rule, you'll get the right answer. - "an ess-ay-pee company", "an ayt-hundred", "a you-nan-i-mous", "an onn-est" etc. "year" is pretty phonetic already, i don't know why you (questioner) are confused about that one as it seems pretty obvious. "x-mas" tree is a confusing example because most people would call it "a christmas tree", even if it was written "xmas". – Max Williams May 06 '16 at 16:19
spell the start of the word phonetically, then apply the vowel rule, you'll get the right answer. Definitely seems like a viable approach. – lux May 06 '16 at 16:22
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It also gets confusing when there are two ways to pronounce an acronym: SQL may be pronounced either "ess-cue-ell" or "sequel," so depending on the speaker's preference, it could be either "an SQL statement" or "a SQL statement." – Mike Harris May 06 '16 at 17:27
I think the phonetic rule is fundamental, and in my experience extends even to dialetc variants: e.g. "That an 'arf-baked idea" said the Cockney. – DJClayworth May 06 '16 at 17:31

Use of 'an' vs 'a'

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