[Jan Strnad]

Is it an hallucination?

 

[Quiss]

Wow, weird. Technically, it should be "a" but when I put it in a sentence, "an" just sounds better. What's up with that?

 

[CaseyHollingshead]

"That was a hallucination, Bob."

"It was all an hallucination, Bob."


Both work in my opinion though with subtle nuances. "A hallucination" is probably the grammatically correct version, but people who speak English know that doesn't mean dick. At least in my parts it would be pronounced "an hallucination".

 

[djnash]

From what I can remember from my school days it depends whether the "h" is silent or not.

A helicoptor
An honour (honor)

A hotel
An hour

Naturally, because this is the English language, there will be exceptions to the rule. 

But I believe "a hallucination" is grammatically correct when written down, but when you speak it aloud, it blurs so either is acceptable.

 

[WHDean]

Is it an hallucination?

The article is governed by the pronunciation of the first letter. It doesn't depend on whether the h is silent, but on whether it's pronounced like a consonant or a vowel. Thus, it's a hallucination (hah-loo-see-na-shun), a history (hiss-to-ree), a hat, a harbour, and a hemorrhage, etc. But it's an hour (ow-er), an honour (on-er), etc. Note that the yuh sound in heuristic and similar words also makes it a heuristic, not an heuristic.

The same rule applies to letters that are pronounced with an initial vowel, even though the letters themselves are consonants: an h, an f, an m, an n, an s, and an r. This is why you have to know the difference between acronyms and initialisms. It's "a NATO proposal" because NATO is pronounced like a word (i.e., "nay-toe"). But it's "an NRA proposal" because the letters are read off-i.e., "en-are-aye."

"Wait," you say. "How come I see 'an history' so often?" Because back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century the Brits pronounced it "iss-tree," so it was "an." People mistakenly think it's the proper way-and so imitate the convention-imagining themselves to be the refined ones. No doubt some Brits still do pronounce it this way, but it's non-standard because only educated English counts.

ETA: In your part of the country, Jan, people might pronounce it more like a vowel (e.g., "uh-loo-see-na-shun"), but Merriam Webster has it pronounced with a hard h.

 

[B.A. Spangler]

Tried it out in a number of sentences and keep coming back to a hallucination.

 

[Lynn McNamee]

The article is governed by the pronunciation of the first letter. It doesn't depend on whether the h is silent, but on whether it's pronounced like a consonant or a vowel. Thus, it's a hallucination (hah-loo-see-na-shun), a history (hiss-to-ree), a hat, a harbour, and a hemorrhage, etc. But it's an hour (ow-er), an honour (on-er), etc. Note that the yuh sound in heuristic and similar words also makes it a heuristic, not an heuristic.

The same rule applies to letters that are pronounced with an initial vowel, even though the letters themselves are consonants: an h, an f, an m, an n, an s, and an r. This is why you have to know the difference between acronyms and initialisms. It's "a NATO proposal" because NATO is pronounced like a word (i.e., "nay-toe"). But it's "an NRA proposal" because the letters are read off-i.e., "en-are-aye."

"Wait," you say. "How come I see 'an history' so often?" Because back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century the Brits pronounced it "iss-tree," so it was "an." People mistakenly think it's the proper way-and so imitate the convention-imagining themselves to be the refined ones. No doubt some Brits still do pronounce it this way, but it's non-standard because only educated English counts.

ETA: In your part of the country, Jan, people might pronounce it more like a vowel (e.g., "uh-loo-see-na-shun"), but Merriam Webster has it pronounced with a hard h.

WHDean,

You are one of the coolest people I know.

I knew the grammar rules you explained, but I had no idea about the British history thing. Thanks for that!

 

[Soothesayer]

"an" sounds weird to me. I always use "a".

 

[Vera Nazarian]

"a" hallucination.

 

[Patty Jansen]

"a"

As aside, I notice the interesting tendency of Australian teenagers to use "a" regardless of the first letter of the next word. It's a strange thing because it creates a very soft glottal stop. These teenagers don't get on an aeroplane, they get on a' aeroplane.

*admits to being unreasonably fascinated by evolutions in language*

 

[Claudia Lefeve]

I tried saying it out loud several times and "an hallucination" just doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Rich Walls]

I'm in the "a" camp

 

[WHDean]

"a"

As aside, I notice the interesting tendency of Australian teenagers to use "a" regardless of the first letter of the next word. It's a strange thing because it creates a very soft glottal stop. These teenagers don't get on an aeroplane, they get on a' aeroplane.

*admits to being unreasonably fascinated by evolutions in language*

Good observation. You may find, however, that what you're hearing is an affectation picked up from the hip hop sub-/counter-culture. Listen to some hip-hop and you'll see what I mean. When those teens turn 20, they'll drop it.