It’s an honest. Since “honest” starts with a silent “h”, we use the indefinite article “an”.
It’s an honest. Choosing between a and an is determined by the sound at the beginning of the following word, and not how it's spelled. Since “honest” starts with a silent “h”, we use the indefinite article “an”.
David is indeed an honest man.
David is indeed a honest man.
More examples:
She’s trying to make an honest living now.
I want you to give me an honest answer.
Follow the same convention with the derived form “honestly” (adverb).
She had an honestly held belief that her actions were justified.
A partial list of words that begin with a silent "h", and therefore take the indefinite article "a":
- an heir
- an heiress
- an heirloom
- an herb (American English)
- an herbal (American English)
- an honor
- an honorable
- an honorarium
- an honorary
- an hour
- an hourly
- an hourglass
