You would use 'an hotel' only because in French the 'h' is not sounded. Most people would say 'a hotel' and I think this would still be correct.

My Nan taught me that it was based on the spelling of the first letter. If it was a vowel then use "an", otherwise use 'a'. 'H', being spelled 'aitch' meant I had to use 'an' in front of words beginning with 'h'.

It's probably more complicated than that, more than my attention span stretches to...

More importantly in Canada

A hockey game or an 'ockey game?

I think it is often explained as 'an' prior to a silent 'h'.

Now that leaves something to be desired as a guide to someone learning English as a second language or to children with accents!!!

Also, isn't the use of etc another way of saying "i really have nothing more to add but maybe this looks like i do"?

Cos that's why i use it

Not really - I use it if I cant be arsed writing out valves , fittings , adapters, plugs and flanges when I can just write - Valves etc

yay!!!


ironic [aɪˈrɒnɪk], ironical
adj
of, characterized by, or using irony
ironicalness n

ironic - Something is ironic if the result is the opposite of what was intended; an ironic event is an incongruous event, one at odds with what might have been expected.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003...

You're welcome.

I am one that uses it, and have for years, I also know what and how it is used in a sentence, do I get a prize?

That had me laughing so hard, that I had coffee coming out of one nostril.

I am with all on this one. Anymore than 3 "..." is greedy.

Slightly on topic - You're v Your when shortening from "you are" drives me up the proverbial wall.

One can avoid making such faux-pas by inserting an adjective beginning with a consonant, thus rendering the conundrum void:

E.g. instead of asking, "Let's find a/an hotel", I would gracefully dodge the dilemma by saying, "Let's find a fkn hotel." That way, people won't look down on you for poor grammar.

Sound advice I hope everyone will follow...

Google Chrome users can install afterthedeadline, an add-on, that checks and corrects grammar and spelling (it works on expats, I just tried it, and it also works on blog sites, twitter, Facebook etc).

It told me that "An hotel" should be "a hotel". It told me that "should be" is in passive voice and should be in active voice. It also told me that the correct cliche is cliché and it even offered to fix that for me.

I think I like it.

If it told you "should be" is in passive voice, it's talking out of an inappropriate orifice. "Should" is a modal verb, expressing obligation or expectation, and is absolutely in the active voice (though, strictly, also in the subjunctive mood since it's an indirect quotation). Strip out both the obligation and the reported speech, and the sentence becomes "An hotel is a hotel." Seems pretty active to me.

You'll be happy to know that it reported no errors (grammatical or spelling) in your reply (well, apart from the "should be" passive issue).

Now, if only it had a button that expands txt speak into English and a "Dumb Down" feature that could convert stuff like that in your reply, and everything DBD33 says, into something I can actually and easily understand.