r/NoStupidQuestions • u/radiantstuckiniron • Jan 03 '22

Is it “an UFO” or “a UFO”?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

18

u/Dilettante Social Science for the win Jan 03 '22 • Helpful

An is used for vowel sounds, A for consonant sounds. We usually accept the y sound in Yuu-Eff-Ohh as a consonant, so A UFO is correct.

7

u/RadiantTurnipOoLaLa Jan 03 '22

A UFO. A vs AN is done phonetically. Phonetically here Y is a consonant.

5

u/catratcatdog Jan 03 '22

It’s a UFO, but an unidentified flying object.

4

u/bubbaloulou Jan 03 '22

A UFO I think!

4

u/ikonoqlast Jan 03 '22

A UFO

But

AN Unidentified Flying Object.

1

u/chrisf_nz Jan 03 '22 edited Jan 03 '22

A or an tends to be applied based on the phonetic sound of the following word. I.e. a vowel sound rather than the vowel itself. Since ufo tends to be pronounced you eff oh, people tend to say a ufo rather than an ufo.