Thread

English: A vs. An

365 points · 529 comments · azhenley

xelxebar · 1789871288 · focus · HN ↗
The one that gets me is when people use "a" with initialisms, e.g. "She drives a RV," just sounds off to me. she can do her thing but I drive an RV.
That said, I think the former might be more common these days, so arguably the rules might just differ between written an spoken English in some dialects.
1. joquarky · 1789877925 · focus · HN ↗
  When people get this wrong, ask them to spell it out phonetically. We sometimes forget that our language is more based on sound than sight.
  An arrvee.
2. litoE · 1789880473 · focus · HN ↗
  But I bet she drives a Recreational Vehicle instead of an Recreational Vehicle.
3. namenotrequired · 1789882005 · focus · HN ↗
  I once wrote “an FAQ” and someone corrected me that it should be “a FAQ”. Turns out she pronounced it “fak” and not “ef ay cue”
  1. Ylpertnodi · 1789884698 · focus · HN ↗
    As a 'fak', pronounce, eff ay queue' is far too long.
4. olsondv · 1789907916 · focus · HN ↗
  Haven’t seen much discussion of “a” changing between “uh” and “ay”. “Uh RV” is hard to say. “Ay RV” is not so bad. I still prefer “an RV” as well.

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