an vs a

[Jack]

I think it is true that you use "a" in front of things that sound like they begin with a consonant (a car; a truck) and "an" in front of things that sound like they begin with a vowel (an ambulance, an SSA staff person).

Agreed?

[Mike]

an goes in front of vowels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_and_an

if you say the acronym as a word, it gets a. If you spell out the individual letters of the acronym, it gets an

[atjeep]

I think it is true that you use "a" in front of things that sound like they begin with a consonant (a car; a truck) and "an" in front of things that sound like they begin with a vowel (an ambulance, an SSA staff person).

Agreed?


That's the way I do it, but I went to public school.

[Numidian]

an goes in front of vowels.

This is true if you go by the book.

In practice Jack's rule is what most people use...

Think about this sentence....

"I'm running about __ hour late" a or an.... Book way "a"... What most people would say "an"

[Ripster]

...and "an" in front of things that sound like they begin with a vowel (an ambulance, an SSA staff person).
Agreed?

I've seen Word correct to the way you have exampled above.

[Jack]

Good example. Hour sounds like it starts with the vowel O.


This is true if you go by the book.

In practice Jack's rule is what most people use...

Think about this sentence....

"I'm running about __ hour late" a or an.... Book way "a"... What most people would say "an"

[01TJ_03KJ]

i go by how it sounds, usually.
we get grammar lessons at work (yes, we're that sped) and that's what we were taught as well.

[dan58]

What's the specific example?

Words with a silent consonent (such as honor), will use "an" before it.

If it's really something odd, I'll call Dad.

[Jack]

We use the "initialism" SSA at work a ton. It sounds like it starts with the letter E.

Real life example:

Task 4) Explore an SSA IT Security Architecture program to document the agency’s security architecture



What's the specific example?

Words with a silent consonant (such as honor), will use "an" before it.

If it's really something odd, I'll call Dad.

[atjeep]

You need to call Mr. Guyer.

[Mike]

spelt out acronyms are "an"













yes...i used the word spelt.

[Jack]

Looks like you just do whatever you feel like. NO RULES! :cheers:

[dan58]

We use the "initialism" SSA at work a ton. It sounds like it starts with the letter E.

Real life example:

Task 4) Explore an SSA IT Security Architecture program to document the agency’s security architecture

I love the Army, but their use of acronyms is just disturbing. They use acronyms IN acronyms. :doh: Sounds like you guys are trying to emulate them.

[RatLabGuy]

AH! This is a developmental linguistics issue!

The "correct" way is indeed before letters that "sound" like a vowel regardless of whether they are or not.

Why?

Well, the truth is it's b/c English is a really F-ed up language and some consonants sound like vowels... but anyway...

It's b/c of the way/order in which people learn to spell/read/write versus talk.
You learn to talk first, right? Like by several years. From hearing other people talk.
During that time, you learn all the basic "rules" for the structure of the langauge. E.g. "An" comes before vowels. You know "vowel" = sounds lilke "Ah, Eh, Ooo, i," etc. You don't really "know" that you know this (you're only 4, come on) but your brain has already figured it out.

"An hour long diatribe about linguistics from Dave". "A pain in my ass." "Dave is an ass" etc.

Well, then it comes time to read and write... what, 4-5 years later? Oh crap, now you discover Oh Crap, those are actually consonents. Too late! you aready learned to talk that way! Can't changet he rule now... so we're stuck w/ this craziness.

[96zj]

I love the Army, but their use of acronyms is just disturbing. They use acronyms IN acronyms. :doh: Sounds like you guys are trying to emulate them.

Haha I was thinking about this today. I was in a class with the acronym of UGS pronounced "uhhhgz" UGS Stands for UAV Ground School which really makes it Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Ground School.

I am dealing with so many acronyms in this school it feels like my head is going to explode.

[Mike]

The fun part about acronyms and the military when people use them and don't even know what the acronym actually stands for.

[Bling]

Excessive use of acronyms is not restricted to DoD. It plagues every agency of the federal government. It is detrimental to operations between agencies as everyone assumes the others know what a given acronym stands for. Even better than that, some have become ridiculously long e.g., IHDNAVEODTECHCEN.

[SirMrManGuy]

I love the Army, but their use of acronyms is just disturbing. They use acronyms IN acronyms. :doh: Sounds like you guys are trying to emulate them.

Work in Nuclear power, its worse....

Imagine companies ran by former Navy nuclear engineers, with exorbitant levels of forms, signatures and approvals needed to get done. Yet unlike the government, you are actually expected to get things done, despite the bureaucratic mess.

[XterraGuy]

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/a.html