# Correct article to use in front of an abbreviation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578 "2013-06-21T19:17:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/1 "2013-06-21T19:17:15Z")
For example, in this forum there is a thread that starts “If a NFL player…”. This jars me, because in my head I am pronouncing “enn eff ell” not “National Football League,” and so the article should be “an” not “a”. But I have never known if there is a rule covering this. It seems to come up a lot, since so many abbreviations are like NFL where the first letter is a consonant. In these cases, to suit my ear, it should be written “an NFL player” or “a National Football League player.” So is there a rule for this, and am I right about which article should be used in each case? Does it make a difference if the abbreviation qualifies as an acronym (i.e. pronounced as one word, like “radar”)? Roddy ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/2 "2013-06-21T19:19:55Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > For example, in this forum there is a thread that starts “If a NFL player…”. > > This jars me, because in my head I am pronouncing “enn eff ell” not “National Football League,” and so the article should be “an” not “a”. But I have never known if there is a rule covering this. > > It seems to come up a lot, since so many abbreviations are like NFL where the first letter is a consonant. In these cases, to suit my ear, it should be written “an NFL player” or “a National Football League player.” > > So is there a rule for this, and am I right about which article should be used in each case? Does it make a difference if the abbreviation qualifies as an acronym (i.e. pronounced as one word, like “radar”)? I would treat it as if I were saying it aloud. An NFL player. A RADAR system. The only issue would be if the acronym was sometimes spelled out and sometimes pronounced as a word, but neither of those examples are that way. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/3 "2013-06-21T19:25:56Z")
A/an is determined by phoneme, not letter. That’s why it’s correct to say a unique doll and not an unique doll. NFL player starts with ɛ which is a vowel phoneme and therefore calls for an. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/4 "2013-06-21T20:35:34Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > A/an is determined by phoneme, not letter. That’s why it’s correct to say a unique doll and not an unique doll. NFL player starts with ɛ which is a vowel phoneme and therefore calls for an. +1 There are some ambiguous cases where it can go either way, depending on whether someone pronounces the letters individually as an initialism or together as an acronym. I’m blanking right now for a very good example, but a weak one is “a URL” vs “an URL,” depending on whether you say “U-R-L” or “earl.” (Weak, because I don’t know anyone who says “earl,” although I heard that some people do.) ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/5 "2013-06-21T20:44:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > +1 > > There are some ambiguous cases where it can go either way, depending on whether someone pronounces the letters individually as an initialism or together as an acronym. I’m blanking right now for a very good example A good example would be “RIAA spokesperson”. I’ve actually seen a few people that say it Arr ay ey ey ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/6 "2013-06-21T20:50:00Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > A good example would be “RIAA spokesperson”. I’ve actually seen a few people that say it Arr ay ey ey Ah. Do people say “ria”? I’ve always said R-I-A-A. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/7 "2013-06-21T23:46:44Z")
I always have it depend on how it is pronounced. For example, I am currently writing a paper in which we talk of “a UFD” and “an SPR”. It irks me no end to hear oh so proper radio announcers saying “An historian”. It wouldn’t bother me at all if they said “An 'istorian”, but they don’t. Cf. “An honest man”. I guess every rule has to have an exception (except this one). ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/8 "2013-06-21T23:51:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > +1 > > There are some ambiguous cases where it can go either way, depending on whether someone pronounces the letters individually as an initialism or together as an acronym. I’m blanking right now for a very good example, but a weak one is “a URL” vs “an URL,” depending on whether you say “U-R-L” or “earl.” (Weak, because I don’t know anyone who says “earl,” although I heard that some people do.) I think another example would be that, when I was younger, the term “an hotel” used to bother me, because in my accent I aspirate the initial h sound and so “hotel” does not start with a vowel. But it does in many other accents. “An historic event” would be another like that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/9 "2013-06-21T23:52:44Z")
It’s confusing because elementary-school grammar teachers often teach the rule, but not the context for it. The rule is that you use “an” before vowels, and “a” before consonants. What they leave out, though, is that vowels and consonants aren’t letters, they’re sounds. So “NFL player” starts with a vowel, because it’s pronounced “enn eff ell”. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/10 "2013-06-22T00:04:57Z")
I don’t know how one could shoehorn it into the curriculum but I firmly believe college graduates or even better, high school students should have at least a semester of introductory linguistics. Too often, English and writing classes, while emphasizing freedom and creativity in content reinforce bad notions of language as a structure. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/11 "2013-06-22T01:29:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ah. Do people say “ria”? I’ve always said R-I-A-A. I’ve always said R-I-double A. I’ve never known anyone who pronounced the acronym. ---
**Author:** ![Chipacabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Chipacabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chipacabra)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/12 "2013-06-22T18:47:52Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > For example, in this forum there is a thread that starts “If a NFL player…”. > > This jars me, because in my head I am pronouncing “enn eff ell” not “National Football League,” and so the article should be “an” not “a”. But I have never known if there is a rule covering this. It works out fine if you pronounce it ‘nuffle.’ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/13 "2013-06-22T21:52:08Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I always have it depend on how it is pronounced. For example, I am currently writing a paper in which we talk of “a UFD” and “an SPR”. > > It irks me no end to hear oh so proper radio announcers saying “An historian”. It wouldn’t bother me at all if they said “An 'istorian”, but they don’t. Cf. “An honest man”. I guess every rule has to have an exception (except this one). The difference is that in “historian,” the “h” is pronounced (as a consonant). In “honest,” the “h” is silent, so the “o” (a vowel) is the initial sound. This is an example of the rule, not an exception. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/14 "2013-06-22T22:14:07Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The difference is that in “historian,” the “h” is pronounced (as a consonant). This is a case in which it can go either way, depending on dialect. Some dialects of English pronounce it with a hard h, in others the h is softer or absent, so it can be either “a historian” or “an historian.” Both are correct. But it’s wrong to say “an historian” while also pronouncing the h. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-article-to-use-in-front-of-an-abbreviation/661578/15 "2013-06-22T23:00:23Z")
I am now of the opinion we need to just drop " an" and just always use “a”.