The Rule is Not "A" Before Consonants

and "An" Before Vowels.

Grammar Rules
Do you put "a" before consonants and "an" before vowels? Many people get this
rule wrong, including some of the most grammatically sound people I know.
The real rule is this

The real rule is this:

You use the article
"a" before words that start with a consonant sound and
"an" before words that start with a vowel sound.
For example, 
He has a unique point of view on the subject and talked about it for an hour.
The "u" in "unique" makes the "Y" sound—a consonant sound—therefore you
use "a" as your article, while the "h" in "hour" sounds like it starts with "ow"—a
vowel sound.

Here are a few examples:

Correct: I need an hour to complete that task.

Incorrect: I need a hour to complete that task.

Correct: This is a universal technique.

Incorrect: This is an universal technique.

Of course, "a" goes before words that begin with a consonant if they have that
consonant sound, just as "an" goes before words that begin with a vowel if they
have that vowel sound. In a way, this is a poetic rule, because it's all about
sound.

MATURE OR MATURED?
The word 'mature' can both function as a verb and as an adjective. When
'mature' is used as a verb, it is correct to end in '-ed' as in 'matured', because the
past tense and past participle of the verb 'mature' is matured' respectively. E.g.,
'He matured very quickly'. Here, 'mature' is used as a verb to mean 'he grew up
rapidly or very quickly.

But when 'mature' is used as an adjective to describe a noun, then it is wrong to

end it in '-ed'. When used as an adjective, it is 'mature' NOT 'matured'. Look at
these sentences:

1) This program is for MATURED women (wrong)

This program is for MATURE women (correct)

2) He is not MATURED enough to watch this movie (wrong)

He is not MATURE enough to watch this movie (correct)