I think I learned something new here. I've always thought the rule was "use `an` if it _is_ a vowel, else use `a`".
If I understand this correctly now, it's "use `an` if it makes a vowel _sound_, else use `a`".
If I understand this correctly now, it's "use `an` if it makes a vowel _sound_, else use `a`".
I do, but that's because I pronounce the 'h' in 'herb'.
Exactly, and Nvidia begins with an e sound.
And we say "a union" because it begins with a y sound and not because it begins with the letter u.
In the UK, people do say "a herb", but that's because we pronounce the h: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/herb#Pronunciation
Kind of like how you see lots of people on Reddit saying "water isn't wet, it just makes other things wet". They heard someone else say it and it sounds smart so they repeat it, without spending 10 seconds to look it up in a dictionary.