[Essay] Pronunciation

[Toodles008]

Is it "a" or "an" before University?

 

[The Maltese Falcon]

It would be "a University".

Although commonly 'a' would come before a word starting with a consonant, in this the case the 'U' in university is pronounced as a long vowel (yew), which on the phonetic chart would be a j. Another example of this would be 'a unit of measure.' This is contrary to say, 'an umbrella', as the 'u' in umbrella is a short vowel.

I hope this helps!

 

[Tdol]

Is it "a" or "an" before University?

It is based on the sound, not the type of letter:

a university/an umbrella
a European/an egg

(Both the words with a begin with a consonant sound- /j/)