A hotel or an hotel?

[Melonrunner]

My dd has been told at school to use 'a' if the next sound is a consonant or 'an' if the next sound is a vowel, with the exception of an hotel. I have never heard of this before but Google suggests this is a thing! It sounds awful when I say am hotel. Who is right me or the teaching assistant?

For example your sentence :

no there really isn't .

The correct way to have written that would be to have capitalised the 'n' in no and not to have left a gap between your t in isn't and your full stop. But you choose to write how you want. There's no problem with that, but a lack of existence of a department on language (or whatever else you prefer to call it) doesn't mean spelling and grammar rules just don't exist.

" a lack of existence of a department on language (or whatever else you prefer to call it) doesn't mean spelling and grammar rules just don't exist."

I think you will find that in fact, this very lack of an academy DOES mean that there are no 'rules' on spelling and grammar. In fact that is one of the strengths of English as a world language.(Unlike French and Spanish for example, English is in constant flux.

If you feel that you could link us to the 'rule' that says 'you must say an (h)otel, please, go right ahead.

Many people still parrot 'rules' like 'never split an infinitive' and such. It is not even possible to 'never split an infinitive', and no reason why you shouldn't. Or 'never finish a sentence with a preposition'. This is bullshit , up with which I will not put.

I think that 'an hotel' sounds dated and rule bound. If you like that sort of thing then 'an hospital' also makes sense.

I once asked a linguistics student about this sort of thing and he said that languages evolve, so the idea that there is a 'correct version' doesn't quite make sense, it might just be the next step in the evolution of the language. He suggested that being a native speaker of a language gave your use of it some validity.

That said, with my own DC, I would rather describe some variations in English as correct/incorrect. I don't really want my DC to be saying 'I wanna go toilet' or 'nuffink', even if those are local variations in English.

" I don't really want my DC to be saying 'I wanna go toilet' "
oh gosh yes I hated it when my children said 'toilet' and insisted they say 'shi'ahse' instead.

maria

Maria you are absolutely wrong.

People are free to interpret and use language however they choose; but there is a correct way and an incorrect way to use English.

'An hotel' is correct. 'A hotel' is not. This does not, however mean that people have to say 'an hotel.' They can say whatever suits them; but suggestion that there is no correct or incorrect way to speak English is ridiculous.

so I will ask you again then , could you please link us to that rule, and to all the other rules that there must be, if what you say is correct?

oh no, you cannot,

For goodness sake, I do know what I am talking about, I have studied linguistics at Master's level. Which you patently have not.

If you are correct and there are no rules for the English Language, then why do proof readers and exams in English Language exist?

For someone who has studied linguistics at masters level, your own grammar is shocking. I suppose this is ok though, as there are no rules?

I can't believe I am even having a discussion about whether there is a correct and incorrect way grammatically to use English. The mind boggles.

Did you know that an orange used to be 'a norange' and an apron used to be 'a napron'? Hotel is a similar case in point, as PP have pointed out. So either could be correct.

" your own grammar is shocking."

Could you point out the shocking grammar please?

Or do you mean I may have been careless with typos as I am typing so fast?

Actually I am not sure I can even be arsed to argue with someone who doesn't know the difference between grammar and punctuation/spacing/typos.

I am going to brush my dog it will be more interesting than this.

You do that

I think Maria means that there is no central body to police the language like the Academie Francaise or l'Accademia Della Crusca so these rules are based on accepted usage. An hotel is old- fashioned and correct. A hotel is also correct - and for me preferable as I pronounce hotel with an aspirated h.

Both are absolutely fine.

For all the reasons given.

Hotel is one of the words I use in quizzes with my students as being preceded by either "a" or "an" depending on how they choose to pronounce it.

Unlike the other silent H words, (heir, honour, hour etc)

"A hotel" is the preferred usage in American English. The last time I heard someone say "an hotel" was on Downton Abbey.

I think that 'an hotel' sounds dated and rule bound. If you like that sort of thing then 'an hospital' also makes sense

No sense at all since hospital has an aspirated h.

I pronounce the h the same way in hotel & hospital and both come from French and would take l' in French instead of le.