It almost makes me crythat nice little word an slipping into an unmarked language grave even as I write this. So sad to be unappreciated.

That gentle little word elides so gracefully into all those beginning-vowel words. It quietly and unobtrusively avoids the uncouth grunty uh sounds.

Only a few hours ago I was listening to an educated man who had written an important book on economics. It was interesting to see how heand many othersdealt with the a/an word; he simply made a long pause between the words a and economic. Sorry, guy--Ph.D. or not, that doesnt make it right.

Heres the rule for A and AN:
1. The article A precedes all words which begin with a CONSONANT.
2. The article AN precedes all words which begin with a VOWEL: a, e, i, o, u.

This applies to written English and spoken English.

Just try saying these examples out loud: In the first example, pronounce the A as a long A (eh-eee)

*The caterpillar ate A ANT before A EAGLE ate him.
*She made a major boo-boo when she pressed A EIGHT instead of A EIGHTEEN on the keypad.
*A UGLY urn was on sale, but the price made it almost beautiful
See how awkward it is, even if it is good exercise for your diaphragm!

Now try pronouncing the A as UH. This is what you hear most often. (Grunt grunt.)

**The caterpillar ate UH ANT before UH EAGLE ate him.
**She made a major boo-boo when she pressed UH EIGHT instead of UH EIGHTEEN on the keypad.
**UH UGLY urn was on sale, but the price made it almost beautiful

Notice how your throat has to work hard to begin each UH. It not only takes unnecessary energy (and may be dangerous after a hearty meal) its really ugly to listen to!

Now try using AN and see how much better the words flow, and how much more pleasing they sound.

* * The caterpillar ate AN ANT before AN EAGLE ate him.
* * She made a major boo-boo when she pressed AN EIGHT instead of AN EIGHTEEN on the keypad.
* * AN UGLY urn was on sale, but the price made it almost beautiful.
* * AN ICY wind is coming up and wed better gallop to the barn!
* * AN ORANGE was in her lunch basket, but somebody snitched it. Woe

Classical singers know that there is also a difference in the pronunciation of THE. 1. Before a consonant, it is THUH. 2. Before a vowel, however, THEE is the preferred pronunciation.

*THUH KANGAROO jumped almost over THE stream. Splash! *THEE APE had better table manners in her cage than did the Vice-President-of-Stuff at THE fancy black-tie dinner.

Heres to mellifluous A-ing and AN-ing, THEE-ing and THUH-ing!

Carole McMichaels

If this is to be a true Bio, it must be in first person singular, so here I am, giving you all my "Singular I's". My life has been long, unconventional, exciting and filled with music, my first love and my first career.

Were it not for an absence of current rules and regulations, I would not be here at all. You see, my father was my mother's cello teacher--a horrible no-no in today's school world. They were married in the Interlachen Music Camp where my father taught trumpet and conducting.

As a child I gave many recitals, usually the first half on piano, the last half on violin. I loved it, but would have preferred (though I didn't know it at the time) music written by live people rather than by dead white men. Still my preference.

A favorite past-time of my four-year's-younger brother and me was to sing rounds a half-step apart. Great ear training for the contemporary music in which I later specialized! Playing hours of orchestral and chamber music--and kick-the-can, swimming, reading and traveling rounded out my childhood activities. A happy childhood!

As an adult I migrated to New York City where my professional life took different turns. I stopped the violin in favor of accompanying instrumental and vocal recitals. Then, because of injuries, I did a stint as a Broadway dancer--and finally ended up as a classical singer. Working with Leonard Bernstein for his time as conductor of the New York Philharmonic was an exhilarating experience.

At the time, 12-tone music was the be-all and end-all of the New York music scene; singers who could sing these beasts were few and far between. However, because I had perfect pitch and a strong instrumental background, I had a fertile field for my interests and abilities.

For variety I sang on cruise ships, did musical comedy, an occasional substitute job as organist in some of the large churches (a total thrill!) Did a bit of folk dancing on Puerto Rican TV, some pretty humorous modeling jobs, and set up the first audio language program in Tehran, Iran.

I have a lovely daughter, compassionate and creative.

For the last thirty years I've been a hypnotherapist, working with individuals and presenting workshops on a variety of topics. My passion is teaching!

Now I specialize in helping performers and public speakers prepare their presentations; using Energy Psychology, we permanently jettison their stage fright. Very interesting and gratifying work!

And I write.