# 'a' or 'an' before an abbreviation - revisited **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703 "2006-10-24T14:12:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/1 "2006-10-24T14:12:40Z")
First let me say that I am a native english speaker and any typos are due to poor editing and not a lack of education. Next let me be clear that we are talking about abbreviations that are commonly used _AS ABBREVIATIONS_. Let us take the FBI as a concrete example. It is quite common to refer to them as the FBI or an FBI agent. Likewise MRI. It is quite common to say MRI, not magnetic resonance imaging or whatever. Those of us who cannot agree that this is common, please open a debate in GD. Is it AN FBI agent or A FBI agent? How about the rule in general? Is it _an honor_ to meet you or _a honor_ to meet you? Lastly, I rarely ask for a cite, but in this case, as I am involved in discussions here at work, can you provide a cite? The person in the discussion will accept a reference from a well-respected author published before 1960. So if Dickens has said “It is an honor to meet you” anywhere in his work, that will be considered sufficient. Faulkner I’m guessing works. Pretty much any well-respected author. I have found the following cite [http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html](http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html) who says: > [@](#): > > Use an in place of a when it precedes a vowel sound, not just a vowel. That means it’s “an honor” (the h is silent), but “a UFO” (because it’s pronounced yoo eff oh). This confuses people most often with acronyms and other abbreviations: some people think it’s wrong to use “an” in front of an abbreviation (like “MRI”) because “an” can only go before vowels. Poppycock: the sound is what matters. It’s “an MRI,” assuming you pronounce it “em ar eye.” The person in question refuses to accept this cite and says that the rules must have changed since he was taught in the 1960s. He also says that if he had his grammar book from 1960 he could provide a cite for me, but he does not. I asked this once before and the resultant hijack resulted in a lock down. I hope that my more carefully worded request won’t have the same results. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/2 "2006-10-24T14:18:35Z")
Here’s one: [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usage/english/original/](http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usage/english/original/) Search for “NATO” and that will bring you into the general area. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/3 "2006-10-24T14:18:48Z")
Your cite is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/4 "2006-10-24T14:21:15Z")
Ooops! Sorry. You were asking for a literary cite. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/5 "2006-10-24T14:21:50Z")
You’re right. He’s wrong. Good luck convincing him - I expect his argument will adapt to reject all citations you offer. Anyway: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/advsh12.txt](http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/advsh12.txt) Do a text search on the term ‘half an hour’ ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/6 "2006-10-24T14:28:13Z")
The difficulty comes, as the cited articlke says, in deciding how an abbreviation is pronounced. Is it “a URL” (pronounced “you are ell”) or “an URL” (pronounced “an earl”)? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/7 "2006-10-24T14:29:41Z")
You want a cite for the rule in general: > [@OED](#): > > 1599 SHAKES. Hen. V, IV. viii. 63 Keepe it fellow, And weare it for an Honor in thy Cappe. Abbreviations are trickier, since they were not used all that often before the 20th Century, but once more the OED comes through: > [@OED](#): > > {alpha} 1841 ‘DOW, JR.’ Short Patent Serm. 106 Fortitude..infuses new life into his soul, while Hope adds an O.K. to his condition. 1896 Congress. Rec. 5 Mar. 2507/1 The deputy marshall..would send word to the prosecuting attorney asking for an ‘O.K.’ ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/8 "2006-10-24T14:31:09Z")
How about _Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary,_ Third Edition, published 1925 (bolding added)? > [@](#): > > **an** \ > In present usage **_an_ is invariably used before words beginning with a vowel sound,** as _an_ enemy, _an_ hour, _an_ oak; and **_a_ is invariably used, except as noted below, before words beginning with a consonant sound,** as _a_ table, _a_ woman, _a_ year, _a_ unit, _a_ eulogy, _a_ oneness, such _a_ one, _a_ historian, _a_ hypothesis, _a_ hotel. Some writers, however, use _an_ before words beginning with _h_ in an unaccented syllable, as _an_ historian, _an_ hotel; and British writers often use _an_ before such words as _union, ewe, euphony,_ etc., beginning with the sound of y. You seem to be asking for literary cites, but your co-worker wants to prove his case with a grammar book, so I hope Noah Webster’s usage notes are good enough. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/9 "2006-10-24T14:46:53Z")
Thanks for the great references. I apologise, I mislead you all - I meant to say that we would settle for a literary cite, but are not limited to it - if the cite is prior to 1960. **Scarlett67** , is that online? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/10 "2006-10-24T14:49:01Z")
Let us know how it turns out, won’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/11 "2006-10-24T15:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Let us know how it turns out, won’t you? [/QUOTE] 🙂 I promise I will. Although the history of this shows that it may go on quite a while. The co-worker has a PH-D in history and this seems to make everyone believe that we should defer to his opinion in all things remotely scholarly. In things dealing with American History, especially the Civil War, I will happily defer to his knowledgable opinion. But in this case he is simply wrong and I refuse to give up until I have educated the team… I doubt that I’ll ever get him to admit he is wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/12 "2006-10-24T15:36:48Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Abbreviations are trickier, since they were not used all that often before the 20th Century, but once more the OED comes through: [/QUOTE] That one doesn’t really prove anything, since “O.K.” starts with a vowel anyway, so it would be “an O.K.” regardless of any rule! Basically, as the above cites indicate, you use “an” before an initialism that starts with a letter whose name, when pronounced, begins with a vowel sound. Namely: A, E, F, H, I, L, M, N, O, R, S or X. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/13 "2006-10-24T16:17:54Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] **Scarlett67** , is that online? [/QUOTE] Not that I know of, but you’re welcome to look. I transcribed it from the book on my shelf. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/14 "2006-10-24T16:42:37Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] That one doesn’t really prove anything, since “O.K.” starts with a vowel anyway, so it would be “an O.K.” regardless of any rule! Basically, as the above cites indicate, you use “an” before an initialism that starts with a letter whose name, when pronounced, begins with a vowel sound. Namely: A, E, F, H, I, L, M, N, O, R, S or X. [/QUOTE] Correct – when, as the OP’s conditions presuppose, the abbreviation is to be pronounced as an abbreviation. When the abbreviation is, by consensus of literate speakers, pronounced as though a word, it is rendered according to whether the initial sound of the “word” is a vowel or consonant sound. Thus: “Opposition to gun control is an NRA tenet” but “Opposition to Communism was a NATO _raison d’etre_.” My personal standard is, when there is no consensus, treat the abbreviation as if orally spelled out. (And in this case, my post **is** legitimately my cite! ;)) Noted in passing: It is customary in British usage, and occasionally seen in American usage, that a word beginning in “h” takes “an” _regardless_ of whether the “h” is sounded. Thus, “an hono(u)r” on both sides of the Atlantic, but “a horse” (usually) in America, and “an horse” in Britain and occasionally in America. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/15 "2006-10-24T16:46:58Z")
An horse, an horse, my kingdom for an horse! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/16 "2006-10-24T16:47:17Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] That one doesn’t really prove anything, since “O.K.” starts with a vowel anyway, so it would be “an O.K.” regardless of any rule! [/QUOTE] OK, here’s are a few pre-1960 cites (emphasis added): > [@OED](#): > > 1955 Sci. Amer. Sept. 36/3 He was born in Miami, Fla., and has a B.S. and **an M.S.** in physics from the University of Florida. > > 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 12/3 The combination of the guillotine and the division system is being developed to a stage when the main duty of **an M.L.A**. will be to sit on a bench and be counted like a sheep. > > 1947 L. HASTINGS Dragons are Extra i. 25 He collected second-hand cars… Tinkering them up, and practising the same sort of cannibalism that long after became \*\*an M.T. \*\*necessity in modern war. > > 1883 Harper’s Mag. Nov. 843/2 He enjoys..the unusual distinction of being **an N.A.** and an A.R.A. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/17 "2006-10-24T17:16:07Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Correct – when, as the OP’s conditions presuppose, the abbreviation is to be pronounced as an abbreviation. When the abbreviation is, by consensus of literate speakers, pronounced as though a word, it is rendered according to whether the initial sound of the “word” is a vowel or consonant sound. [/quote] That’s why I said “initialism”, which to me implies “spelt out”, rather than “acronym” which implies “pronounced as a word”. Or am I wrong in this usage? > [@](#): > > Noted in passing: It is customary in British usage, and occasionally seen in American usage, that a word beginning in “h” takes “an” _regardless_ of whether the “h” is sounded. Thus, “an hono(u)r” on both sides of the Atlantic, but “a horse” (usually) in America, and “an horse” in Britain and occasionally in America. That’s news to me, and I am British born and bred. I have never, ever, seen or heard “an horse” used, except maybe in a faux-Cockney way where the “h” is dropped altogether: “Ah’ll get you an 'orse, guv’nor!”. There are certain words with a sounded “h” which formerly took “an” – “hotel” is one that comes to mind – but that usage is considered pretty archaic by most people. It’s definitely not correct to say that all words beginning with “h” take “an” in British usage. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/18 "2006-10-24T17:21:23Z")
OK, maybe I should have Googled - \*\*Results 1 - 10 of about 94,100 for “an horse”. \*\* Most of those seem to be quotations from old sources, though. I maintain that virtually nobody in Britain talks or writes that way nowadays! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/19 "2006-10-24T17:27:11Z")
Slightly different, but. . . I could have sworn I had seen in print (Shakespeare? The Bible? something old, definitley) “an” preceding a long “u” sound, as in “an use,” in which “use” begins with a consonant “y” sound. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703/20 "2006-10-24T17:29:22Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] OK, maybe I should have Googled - \*\*Results 1 - 10 of about 94,100 for “an horse”. \*\* Most of those seem to be quotations from old sources, though. I maintain that virtually nobody in Britain talks or writes that way nowadays! [/QUOTE] I still see “an historic [occasion]” used, in both British and American writing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-or-an-before-an-abbreviation-revisited/377703.md?page=2)