Which article best goes with ‘health’ and ‘healthy’ when trying to use them in a sentence. As in, do you say “I’m reading a health post” or “I’m reading an health post”?
Share
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people's questions, and connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
Which article best goes with ‘health’ and ‘healthy’ when trying to use them in a sentence. As in, do you say “I’m reading a health post” or “I’m reading an health post”?
Both are correct, though the silent ”h” is not common anymore. There is sometimes a perception that using the silent ‘h’ is more correct because it’s more traditional, but it doesn’t really matter. Almost all English speakers say “a health”. “A,” because the “h” at the start of “health” is voiced. If the question were instead asked about the word “honor” with its silent “h,” it should be preceded by “an,” because its pronunciation starts with a vowel sound. The silent ‘h’ is still correct for some words like “honest” and “honor”. Both of those words came from French, and both retain the silent ”h”.
There is a rule on how to use a or an: “A” is used before words starting in consonant sounds and “an” is used before words starting with vowel sounds. It doesn’t matter if the word is an adjective, a noun, an adverb, or anything else; the rule is exactly the same. It depends how you intend to use it in a sentence. But “an health” is not grammatically correct”. See more examples below:
“There was a health scare in Nigeria as a result of the Covid scare”
“A healthy method to lose weight is to exercise every day”