"an uniform" or "a uniform"

[Kiki]

which one the true " an uniform" or " a uniform"

which one the true " a bookstore" or "a bookshop"

[Mister Micawber]

.
"a uniform"

" a bookstore" or "a bookshop" -- Both are fine.
.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[MariaRu]

It's very interesting... why "a uniform"? I can't fail to agree that it's true... "a uniform". But why? The rule says "we use AN before a vowel" (an apple, an envelope, an English dictionary" etc.) Is a uniform an exception to the rule?

Thank you in advance :)

[Torsten]

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Hi, the 'u' sound is sometimes pronounces as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant. Listen to these examples: uniform, university, universal, etc. As you can hear, the first sound of these words is 'j' not 'u'.

Let me know if this makes sense to you.
Thanks,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, photographs: Sitting around a table

[MariaRu]

Great! Thanks a lot! :) I've got it!

Thanks,
Marina.

[Prezbucky]

The "u" in "uniform" cannot be judged on the fact that it's a vowel; rather, it is judged on its pronunciation:

you

Youniform

Hence it's preceded by "a" to form the noun phrase "a uniform".

Now let's look at "urn".

It starts with a "u", but is the article the same?

Urn's pronunciation is "earn".

So we have the noun phrase "an urn".
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Teadrinker]

By the way, this also applies to words like:

an hour
an honour

which take "an", while

a heist
a hoof

take "a".

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edit: oops, my apologies... I think I have inadvertently brought back a dead thread.

[Haya]

that's right.
thank u torsten

[Britney]

"a uniform" is correct. because it starts with a consonant, not a vowel. you can check the pronounciation in the dictionary.
"bookshop" and "bookstore" have almost the same meaning. but i think bookstore shoulb be bigger.