{
  "id": 8543810,
  "title": "English: A vs. An",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/english-a-vs-an",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-19T20:41:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hacker News",
    "slug": "hacker-news",
    "url": "https://www.redblobgames.com/blog/2026-09-16-english-a-vs-an/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the English language, there exists an indefinite article \"a\" that can precede a word, as in \"a raccoon.\" However, certain words require the use of \"an,\" such as \"an apple.\" When creating text programmatically, I sought a function called a_or_an( apple ) that would determine which article to employ. At first glance, it might appear straightforward to simply examine the first letter for a vowel. Regrettably, this approach would result in outputting \"an unicorn,\" instead of the correct \"a unicorn.\" The true rule lies not in whether the written word commences with a vowel letter, but whether the spoken word begins with a vowel sound. For instance, the word \"unicorn\" initiates with the vowel letter \"u,\" yet it begins with a consonant sound \"Y.\" Conversely, \"hour\" begins with a consonant letter \"h,\" yet it begins with a vowel sound \"OW.\" Intrigued by the prevalence of these exceptions, I dedicated a day to analyzing the data, constructing visualizations, and compiling the findings. To my astonishment, merely 129 out of the 32,455 words within my dataset necessitated exceptions.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}