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If you get angry about frivolous lawsuits by big company bullies you'll love..

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iphigenie:
French is my mother tongue and I agree it is bad - complicated grammar, nothing is pronounced or written as you think it ought to... it could never take over the world, because the world certainly couldnt be bothered. The last time french dominated the world was when it was the language of an aristocratic elite, and the complexity *helped* it in that.

It's still the best language to talk at length without saying anything though.

nudone:
heheh, that's brilliant.

Deozaan:
I was taught in school that you determine whether or not to use "an" or "a" depending on how the beginning of the next word sounds. If the beginning of the word after "a/an" has a vowel sound, then you use "an" but if it has a consonant sound, you use "a." For example, "an idiot," or "a moron."
-Deozaan (April 17, 2008, 09:00 PM)
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It also depends on how the vowel sounds. For example:

an umbrella
a unified theory
-Carol Haynes (April 18, 2008, 06:02 AM)
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Yes that's exactly what I said. Or at least exactly what I meant. :)

If the beginning of the word after "a/an" has a vowel sound, then you use "an" ...-Deozaan (April 17, 2008, 09:00 PM)
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(emphasis added)

I think those two tend to contradict each other at times depending on your accent - trying to say a 'istory is a challenge.
Then, is it an html editor or a html.. - for me it's "a" but I pronounce the "H" there a lot more than your average American/Canadian for example
... but I suppose rules are okay for writing-tomos (April 18, 2008, 03:25 AM)
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I did specifically mention dialects of English that don't pronounce the letter H at the beginning of words. I would say "An HTML editor." Sure, you say the letter "H" but it starts with the sound of the letter "A."

I think the "rule" can be summed up with something along these lines: You don't want two vowel sounds right after each other. It breaks the fluency (flow) of speech as you have to make a distinct pause in your words to differentiate the ending of the word and the beginning of the next.

Yet the rules of the English language are so complex that there are always special cases where they don't apply, so I'm sure someone would be able to point out a flaw somewhere along here.

tomos:
all off-topic response to Deozaan  :-\ I did specifically mention dialects of English that don't pronounce the letter H at the beginning of words. I would say "An HTML editor." Sure, you say the letter "H" but it starts with the sound of the letter "A."
-Deozaan (April 18, 2008, 04:20 PM)
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yes, yes, I was agreeing with you :) and commenting y bit more
btw
you say the letter "H" but it starts with the sound of the letter "Athat was omy point - I dont pronounce "H" starting with the letter "A" (I pronounce it like "hay" -I think we pronounce that similar..) - which is why i say "a html editor"
we'll have to start uploading recordings next ;D and apologies to others for keeping thread very off topic :-[

wreckedcarzz:
Good reading - nice to see someone actually give some effort and fight back for once. I'll remember to tell everyone I know to not buy any Monster cables anytime soon...

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