diff --git a/util.lisp b/util.lisp
index 68b0d29..c50e0ce 100644
--- a/util.lisp
+++ b/util.lisp
@@ -149,6 +149,12 @@
 		((or (symbolp x) (characterp x)) (string x))
 		(t (format NIL "~S" x))))
 
+(defun leading-vowel (noun)
+	"Return noun prepended with 'a' or 'an', depending on its first letter."
+	(format NIL "~A ~A"
+		(if (member (char noun 0) '(#\a #\e #\i #\o #\u)) "an" "a")
+		noun))
+
 (defun extract-elements (str)
 	"Extract all Lisp elements (strings, symbols, numbers, etc.) from str"
 	(multiple-value-bind (next-element i) (read-from-string str nil)

diff --git a/util.lisp b/util.lisp
index 68b0d29..c50e0ce 100644
--- a/util.lisp
+++ b/util.lisp
@@ -149,6 +149,12 @@
 		((or (symbolp x) (characterp x)) (string x))
 		(t (format NIL "~S" x))))
 
+(defun leading-vowel (noun)
+	"Return noun prepended with 'a' or 'an', depending on its first letter."
+	(format NIL "~A ~A"
+		(if (member (char noun 0) '(#\a #\e #\i #\o #\u)) "an" "a")
+		noun))
+
 (defun extract-elements (str)
 	"Extract all Lisp elements (strings, symbols, numbers, etc.) from str"
 	(multiple-value-bind (next-element i) (read-from-string str nil)
diff --git a/world.lisp b/world.lisp
index 51db293..b591133 100644
--- a/world.lisp
+++ b/world.lisp
@@ -185,8 +185,9 @@
 		(format NIL "~A / ~A" (first (patch-pos p)) (second (patch-pos p)))	""
 		(format NIL "The ground here is ~A." (biome-ground (patch-biome p)))
 		(when (patch-occupant p)
-			(format NIL "There is a ~A here." (.name (patch-occupant p))))
+			(format NIL "There is ~A here."
+				(leading-vowel (.name (patch-occupant p)))))
 		(when (patch-items p)
 			;;FIXME we will be dealing with instances here, not names...
 			(format NIL "The following items are here:~A *~A" #\newline
-				(string-from-list (patch-items p) (format NIL "~% *"))))))
+				(string-from-list (patch-items p) (format NIL "~%  *"))))))