Acronyms and articles; Is the letter Y a vowel or a consonant?

Which is correct? The GRUB bootloader can run from ________. a. a USB drive. b. an USB drive.

Answer: a

Explanation: Because the U is pronounced yoo, we treat it as if it is a Y and — in this case — a consonant.

Rule: When Y is the first letter in a syllable of more than one letter, it’s a consonant.

I like the straightforward way Phonics on the Web explains this rule. I hate to admit I’m shocked about the lack of understanding of English rules online because it makes me sound like a fuddy-duddy. (As does, of course, using the word fuddy-duddy. Nope, there’s no help for me.)

But here goes — I’m shocked by the misinformation online about whether Y is a vowel or a consonant.  AskOxford.com helpfully responds that Yes, Y is a vowel or a consonant.

Otherwise, there are silly claims like “If it sounds like a vowel, it’s a vowel.” Or the claims, as in the comments here, that Y is always a consonant.

Was no one else taught that “A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y” are the vowels? Yes, I’m yelling. Yelling about the letter Y.

The other issue here is articles and acronyms and initialisms (No, they’re not the same thing — don’t get me started.) Use a if the whole thing is pronounced as if it starts with a consonant and an if the whole thing sounds as if it starts with a vowel. That’s the rule.

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