A University or An University?


A university, not An university.
The problem here is what most people learn at school (Ecuadorian school that is) Most of us learn there is a rule about the use of the indefinite article. According to this rule we must use A before nouns that begin with a consonant e.g. 
A knight
A pond
A submarine
We use An before nouns beginning with a vowel, e.g.
An earring
An ox
An umbrella
Nevertheless, this rule neglects to explain that it is incorrect to say An universe. Quite often students apply the rule inadvertently making mistakes because they are overgeneralizing. The rule is Ok but it is also limited and imperfect. If it were perfect then saying "A hour" would be correct since we are using the article A before a consonant and yet it is not correct. "An hour" is.
To clarify things let's begin by remembering that sounds play an important role in English and sometimes they may be misleading. The vowel U for example has several sounds:
thUrsday
sUperman
Union
It has a different sound in each of the words above, and it sounds /yü/ in University and Union. This sound specifically is not considered a vowel sound (it is never included in the list of twelve possible vowel sounds). Truly it is a consonant sound that can also be found in other words such as Europe for instance.
Therefore the rule is and has always been incomplete. It is not about the first letter of a noun being a consonant or a vowel but that first letter having a consonant or a vowel sound (which also explains why  we say "An hour": the h is silent in this case and we get to hear only a vowel sound). 

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