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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I may be wrong but I think it’s a preposition
I used to struggle with French and German though when you had to work out if the word was masculine, feminine or neutral and the placing of the vowel in the sentence |
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"I may be wrong but I think it’s a preposition
I used to struggle with French and German though when you had to work out if the word was masculine, feminine or neutral and the placing of the vowel in the sentence "
I can never remember if they're masc or fem so I guess. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"I may be wrong but I think it’s a preposition
I used to struggle with French and German though when you had to work out if the word was masculine, feminine or neutral and the placing of the vowel in the sentence
I can never remember if they're masc or fem so I guess. "
I did a German speaking course where everything had to be grammatically correct. So you say (in English as I can’t remember the spellings)
Can I 5 bread rolls have
I think it’s
Kann Ich funf brotchen haben
When I said it in the shop they told me I said it wrong and just say
Kann Ich haben funf brotchen
So even when taught it, it’s wrong
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By *stellaWoman
over a year ago
London |
"term for the grammatical rule that says in most cases use 'an' before a word that starts with a vowel and 'a' before a word that starts with a consonant?
Thanking you  "
It’s the usage of indefinite articles and it’s a before consonant sounds not words/spelling and an before vowel sounds eg. An hour or a useless idiot. |
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I don't think there is an absolute name - just usage of indefinite article under certain circumstances (and as Estella says, it depends on the phonetic sound of the word/ acronym, not the written letter - see also "an HMRC employee" unless you say h as "haych", in which case "a HMRC employee")
If I was going to be a wanker I might call it, in the vein of an archaic classical Greek grammar book, "n-movable of indefinite article to aid quasi-metrical constructions, which remains an artefact in written English". (I made that up. Much wanker very wow) |
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"I before e except after C
No really 
Except glacier and protein and a myriad of other examples. "
I occasionally tutor English as a second language and - with those who are amenable to this sort of thing, I call this is the "because English is a bastard" rule |
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"I may be wrong but I think it’s a preposition
I used to struggle with French and German though when you had to work out if the word was masculine, feminine or neutral and the placing of the vowel in the sentence
I can never remember if they're masc or fem so I guess. "
Whatever they choose to be now. |
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"I may be wrong but I think it’s a preposition
I used to struggle with French and German though when you had to work out if the word was masculine, feminine or neutral and the placing of the vowel in the sentence
I can never remember if they're masc or fem so I guess.
I did a German speaking course where everything had to be grammatically correct. So you say (in English as I can’t remember the spellings)
Can I 5 bread rolls have
I think it’s
Kann Ich funf brotchen haben
When I said it in the shop they told me I said it wrong and just say
Kann Ich haben funf brotchen
So even when taught it, it’s wrong
"
you could say ( ich becomme funf brotchen bitte) |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Thanks all. So, in brief, it's usage of the indefinite article before a vowel or consonant sound.
Now, when to use 'who' and when to use 'whom'...?"
Who is subjective pronoun
Whom is objective
Thank you the office |
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"I may be wrong but I think it’s a preposition
I used to struggle with French and German though when you had to work out if the word was masculine, feminine or neutral and the placing of the vowel in the sentence
I can never remember if they're masc or fem so I guess.
Whatever they choose to be now. "
 |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Here’s a good one
Further vs farther
Farther refers to distance further is short for furthermore.
I didn't know that, I googled it"
I was always taught farther was a measured distance and further was a figurative distance
“I threw the ball farther”
“I went further in education” |
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"Here’s a good one
Further vs farther
Farther refers to distance further is short for furthermore.
I didn't know that, I googled it
I was always taught farther was a measured distance and further was a figurative distance
“I threw the ball farther”
“I went further in education” "
I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that my grammatical education is sadly lacking |
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