Historic and historical are both terms used to refer to people, places or events from the past; however, as Grammarly notes, their distinction can often be more subtle than expected.
Assuming you pronounce the word with an initial h sound, an is the appropriate article to use before that word.
It’s important
Historic and historical are not interchangeable terms; although their meanings overlap. Both terms refer to events from the past; however, “historic” typically denotes important historical artifacts or events. You might encounter this word used as part of a headline like this one: “She stood on the historic battlefield where her grandfather died.”
Historic and historical may seem similar, yet English provides us with plenty of subtle differences that are easily misunderstood (discreet vs. flesh out, illicit vs licit, stationary vs stationery are just three such issues that might throw off readers). By keeping basic rules in mind when making choices regarding when and how you should use each word, however, you can become confident when using each term.
Another frequent question concerning historic and historical writing is whether to use “a” or “an”. Both are accepted, though since the 1940s “a” has become more commonly used than “an.” Your choice will depend heavily on how you pronounce each word – historical ends in “c”, while historic starts with an “a”.
It’s significant
Historical events encompass any noteworthy event or occurrence from the past that is significant enough to warrant consideration as historical. This can include world-famous moments such as winning the World Cup football competition; but also smaller happenings, like finding an unopened bottle of banana ketchup in your basement.
However, something which was significant to one person might not necessarily be considered historic by everyone else; thus the phrase historical can refer to all things of significance in history, not only those which stand out.
Even with this distinction in place, many individuals still prefer saying an historic. This could be down to personal preference or regional accents/dialects not pronouncing the “h” in historic. Or it could just be that articles beginning with audible “h”, like hero and habit, tend to prefer article a over historic when used together.
It’s memorable
Many people confuse historic with historical, but both terms have distinct definitions. According to Merriam-Webster, historic refers to something significant from history such as the Declaration of Independence or Anne Frank’s diary; or artifacts with immense meaning such as Rosetta Stone or Spirit of St Louis. Historical refers to any event or object related to history regardless of their importance.
Note that the “h” in historic and historical is silent, so they should always be followed by the definite article. This rule also applies to words with similar sounds like flush out and flesh out or home in and hone in; with practice you’ll soon be able to easily distinguish historic from historical and make the right selection in your writing; plus avoid embarrassing typos like banana ketchup!
It’s influential
Proper usage of historic and historical terms is vital to ensure accuracy and clarity in grammar and discourse. Given both begin with “h”, they should be prefaced by an article rather than the usual word an (though many American dialects pronounce the first syllable of both differently).
The word historical refers to any general event from history, regardless of its significance. It is most frequently applied to artifacts from history such as artifacts from museums or events that take place throughout time; books on history or events that occur. Furthermore, you’ll often see historical in front of any subject which involves history such as fiction or records pertaining to it.
However, both terms can also be used interchangeably when discussing significant or momentous events in history. For example, she could have been discussing either banana ketchup or her trip around Italy as both are significant topics with an impactful past and thus qualify as historic events; they simply may not be quite as significant or memorable as something like Bunker Hill in terms of impact and significance compared to historical battles like Bunker Hill.
