"A user" or "An user", why?

Question

"A user" or "An user", why?

Answer 1

A user. Use "a" before a consonant sound and "an" before a vowel sound.  It's the sound that determines what to use, not the first letter of the word.

Answer 2

It's an user because theres a vowel as the first letter of user, It just doesn't sound right :)

Answer 3

i think its A USER

i heard that its not actually about the first letter,

but how you say it.

like when you say USER,

u pronounce it as YOU-SER

and it starts with a Y

so its A USER

but when its like APPLE,

you pronounce it as AP-PLE

and it starts with an A

so its

AN APPLE.

i heard about it by GRAMMAR GIRL

google it if you want

GRAMMAR GIRL

then click the first one I THINK?

Answer 4

By the rule, ("a" before a consonant and "an" before a vowel sound), it should be "an", but its not.  "A user" is correct. To me "user" has a vowel sound, so I don't know why.  There are some words, like "hour" that don't start with a vowel, but since the "h" is silent, it is a vowel sound.

The site listed below says the following:

Further, some words starting with vowels may have a preceding a because they are pronounced as if beginning with an initial consonant. "Ewe" and "user" have a preceding a because they are pronounced with an initial y consonant sound. "One-armed bandit" also has a preceding a because it is pronounced with an initial w consonant sound.

Answer 5

'a user'

i think it's because we say it like there's a consonant (y) in front of it

(yoo zer)

so the 'n' isn't needed to break up the two words

like its needed in, say, 'an elephant'

just a guess

Answer 6

0o0o0o0o TRICK TRICKY.

I don't know.

I think it's suppose to be "an" but it just doesn't sound right.

I thought you use "an" before words that start with a,e,i,o, or u.

Pshhhh

Answer 7

A user. It depends on the word's beginning sound, not letter.