A useful or an useful?

[JTetstone]

A useful or an useful?
]
Answer: A useful.

The rule for putting an in front of unique or useful:

Although U is a vowel, the pronunciation of useful begins with a Y sound (yoos-ful) which is a consonant sound.

Wrong:   I found your post an useful read.
Right:     I found your post a useful read.

 unique [yoo-neek]
 useful [yoos-ful]
 usual  [yoo-zyoo-l]

In the case of an before a word that begins with u, let your ears guide you:

a useful device, but an unusual device
a unique feature, but an ultra-interesting feature
a unique element, but an unknown element
a uniform-based school, but an unconventional school
a useful paper, but an undervalued paper

Good luck with your writing.

jt

[robcarr]

A useful or an useful?
]
Answer: A useful.

The rule for putting an in front of unique or useful:

Although U is a vowel, the pronunciation of useful begins with a Y sound (yoos-ful) which is a consonant sound.

Wrong:   I found your post an useful read.
Right:     I found this post a useful read.

 unique [yoo-neek]
 useful [yoos-ful]
 usual  [yoo-zyoo-l]

In the case of an before a word that begins with u, let your ears guide you:

a useful device, but an unusual device
a unique feature, but an ultra-interesting feature
a unique element, but an unknown element
a uniform-based school, but an unconventional school
a useful paper, but an undervalued paper

Good luck with your writing.

jt

Yeah, I know it's an old thread. But I was looking for the answer and just accidentally found it. I really appreciate this info.