Why do we say "an" historic event?
445091
BASIC explanation why "an" may appear before a word beginning with /h/:\n\n1) the initial /h/ IS not pronounced\n*generally in "hours" hono(u)r"\n*American English - "herb"\n*some dialects  "humble",  "hotel"\n\n2) history - that is, the /h/ USED to be silent:\nthere are a number of words whose initial /h/ was originally not pronounced,esp. those derived from (Old) French, which did not pronounce it (sometimes did not even spell it)\nSome of these (examples listed in #1) STILL do not pronounce the /h/ in many or all English dialects.   Others that have added a pronounced /h/ may still be treated as if they did not have it  -- 'historic(al)' is perhaps the best example of this\n\nBUT this is not enough -- those who say "an historic(al) event" (pronouncing the /h/) ALSO usually say "a history"!\nSo, there's one other very important factor, which is:\n\n3) The syllable starting with /h/ LACKS an ACCENT\n --Specifically, if the SECOND syllable is accented, the initial /h/ is WEAKER, perhaps only very slightly pronounced  (It seems especially weak if the following vowel is formed in the front of the mouth -- a, i, e  (vs. vowels made further back  -- o,  u)\n\nSo, if the first syllable HAS an accent (especially the MAIN accent) it is preceded by "a"   --thus we say "A HISTORY" (unless, of course, you're Cockney)\n\nTo get the sense of how this works, just try saying the word "historic" all be itself.  You may notice that you scarcely pronounce the /h/.  Even if you do, it may feel like it takes extra energy do so  (whereas when you say "history" the 'energy' is already supplied by accenting the syllable)\n\n[Some have said 'accented' or 'unaccented', but this is not quite correct.  When the SECOND syllable is accented, the first syllable has the LEAST accent; if a LATER syllable has the primary accent the first syllable may still have a SECONDARY accent, and the 'fule' just described does not apply.  Examples: 'hospitality' 'hippopotamus'] \n\nIn fact, in expressions like "an historic..." many find that the inclusion of the /n/ can actually make the words easier to pronounce (though in that case the /h/ is usually only VERY slightly pronounced). \n\nOther examples where "an" may be found (all of which have an accent on the second syllable): "an hereditary title" [vs. "a HERitage],  "an habitual liar" [vs. "a HA-bit"], cf. "an hysterical child"  \n\nNow if you were to try some of these expressions in a search engine you would likely find that "an historic" and "an historical" are much more commong (in proportion to "a historic" "a historical") than these other examples.  That leads to the FINAL(?) factor that affects pronunciation.\n\n4) HABIT! That is, we're USED to hearing it that way, and so it just seems right, even if it does not follow the "rules" we may generally us for such cases.\n\nThus, the reason 'historic' and 'historical' are far more likely to be preceded by "an" than other words that might "qualify" is that they are more COMMON words or expressions.  People are used to hearing them this way.    This is hardly unusual.  In any language the LESS common a word is in everyday speech the MORE likely it is speakers apply the "general rules" to that word.   Thus, irregular verbs in a language [forms of to be, come, hit, ] are COMMON words.
11279
In History Definetly Not\n\nCurrent No
996426
The word "then" in this sentence is making sure we realize that the sentence is telling us about a series of events which happened one after the other.  This happened, then this happened, then this happened.  In this particular sentence--since he is looking back and forth--it wouldn't make much sense if the word "then" was missing.
743397
We are the past.  We can't selectively ignore past events.  Do you want to forget Hitler?
1117979
To judge it.\n\nHistory comes from the latin word Histor, which means wise man or judge.\n\nMy role in history is to know it and judge how it affects me and my environment.\n\nAnd the reason for this is that the future doesn't have any meaning if it doesn't have a past.
86778
die Geschichte (also means story, die Geschichten is the plural form)\nsee http://dict.leo.org for future reference
380668
Historical context simply means looking at something based on when it happened....you cannot judge or evaluate using today/modern standards...you have to evaluate using the knowledge that we have of that period and those people.....put it into historical context.
539296
History repeats itself.....a story of the past to be repeated\n\nMore important, did they feed their dog?
822688
because it tells you about an ongoing action. it didnt just happen once and then it was over with it happened over a period of time..\n\n\nex: i read the paper when mary came in.\n\nvs\ni was reading the paper when mary came in.\n\n\nthe second one makes sense because you didnt stop reading and then mary came in. she came in while you were reading. so it was an ongoing action
83370
A historic, \nwith any vowel sound you use AN\nwith any consonant sound you use A.\n\nEX. a horse, but an apple.\n    an honor... here the letter H doesn´t have any sound that´s why we use an.
149301
The correct usage in this case would be "an". The way to decide is by the sound of the work you are placing "a" or "an" in front of.  If the sound is vowel like (a,e,i,o, or u) you use "an".  If the sound is consonent like (the rest of the alphabet pretty much), you use "a".  So you would say "an hour" but "a historian"  Hope this helps.
2559
Options 1 and 3 are grammatically correct.  One does not need to use the perfect tense in this case, but if one does, they should use the third person plural for that particular example, as the subject of "to happen" is "events", not "one".
383804
Because it would sound funny to say "Merry Thanksgiving" or "Jolly 4th of July" or "Funtabulous Valentine's Day." As Americans, our vocabularies tend to be sparse. We pick one word with which we are comfortable (happy) and stick to it. Christmas... I guess that's the exception to the rule. I suppose it's because we've heard it our entire lives.
456460
What happened is history. We are living in history. History is more than action, but actions happen in history. History is a stream off the river of eternity. So the question is, "what is happening in the world?"
161054
it is a day which is celebrated by nation \non this day some historic event had happened\nmight be country got independence,might be country'e constistution is made on this day, or anyother thing that changed the fate of the country.
1173599
People are people. Sometimes that means they need to convince themselves there's a reason they were lucky, or that they had some sort of aid to keep them going, or even that all the terrible things that happened in the 'hard times' happened for a reason ("they must have, the world couldn't be that cruel"). People have been using gods or stories about them to explain everything from the weather to lines of succession probably since before recorded history, it's not really surprising some people still need this sort of reinforcement now.
295260
Probably not.  Some wars were fought before historical records were kept and exist only in legend.  A good example would be the Trojan War.  We would also have to answer the question: What is a War?  World War II is surely the most famous, but the "least" famous is up for grabs.