Drive-Thru Edit: When h isn’t an h

Words that start with h sometimes need an and sometimes need a

Both these words start with the letter h:

• History
• Honor

When you say history, you hear the h. So, you would write:

• I am writing a history about the lumberjacks in my state.

The letter h is silent in the word honor. And that is why you write:

• It is an honor to be here.

Typically, an is written before words that begin with a vowel or begin with a vowel sound.

But be careful of words that begin with u or o, such as: unicorn and one. Both words begin with a vowel, but the u sounds like you, and one sounds like it begins with w. So, you would write:

• A unicorn
• A one-time thing

Unlike:

• An uninformed man
• An on-and-off relationship

Write on.