>>>It's the same in English- the indefinite article a becomes an before a word starting with a vowel.
>>>
>>> For u it depends how it is pronounced - I think
>>>
>>>A U-Turn
>>>An unrelated matter
>>
>>On a related note, same goes for words beginning with an aitch - "an honorable exception".
>>
>>Btw, a question for the anglophone majority here: is there a word in English which begins with a "u" and has it pronounced as u? Not as uh as in under, not as yoo as in universe, but as u as in butcher, lubricate?
>
>to me butcher and lubricate are different sounds.
>
>lubricate (I think) is pronounced loobricate
>
>It is entirely possible I don't pronounce that "correctly"


When in doubt http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lubricate you can click to hear it pronounced