# Grammar question-need kind of fast **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209 "2015-02-20T17:37:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/1 "2015-02-20T17:37:52Z")
Sentence in question below: I am writing one of our pricing guys requesting a “as low as price” on the unit. “a” or “an”? “an” sounds wrong, but the article precedes an “a” word. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/2 "2015-02-20T17:39:53Z")
An. Writing to. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/3 "2015-02-20T18:06:44Z")
“as low as price” simply makes no sense. The lowest price Your best price The lowest possible price ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/4 "2015-02-20T18:12:48Z")
No, I am advising someone who is asking on the progress of an marketing piece, that I cannot continue until someone in the pricing/inventory dept. tells me what is the lowest “as low as price” I can use. IOW, “BUY THIS WIDGET TODAY, AS LOW AS $XXX WITH E-Z FINANCING!!” I need to write that (sort of) but I don’t have the price to fill in. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/5 "2015-02-20T18:21:43Z")
That’s different: _What is the lowest “as low as” price I can use?_ is OK - The quotation marks make it correct. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/6 "2015-02-20T18:28:27Z")
Oy. And that’s essentially what I wrote to the pricing guy. It’s writing to the second guy ABOUT writing to the 1st guy, that’s confusing me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/7 "2015-02-20T18:34:50Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > That’s different: _What is the lowest “as low as” price I can use?_ is OK - The quotation marks make it correct. Thank you! I didn’t understand what the OP was talking about until you wrote this. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/8 "2015-02-20T18:43:13Z")
I asked Firstguy: What is the lowest “as low as” price I can use? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/9 "2015-02-20T18:45:57Z")
I think it should be: I am writing one of our pricing guys requesting an “as low as” price on the unit. The phrase “as low as” essentially functions as an adjective, so you use “an”, just like you would say “an unbeatable price”. Note the repositioning of the endquote. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/10 "2015-02-20T21:26:53Z")
Also voting 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:** [February 20, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/11 "2015-02-20T22:24:07Z")
If you wanted to keep the wording in OP, for whatever reason, there’s no reason I could see that you wouldn’t choose “an” as the article. I’m not sure why “an” sounds wrong to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/12 "2015-02-20T22:38:18Z")
Whichever. And I’m a syntactician. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/13 "2015-02-21T00:38:54Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > No, I am advising someone who is asking on the progress of **an marketing** piece, that I cannot continue until someone in the pricing/inventory dept. tells me what is the lowest “as low as price” I can use. But a here. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-need-kind-of-fast/713209/14 "2015-02-21T21:22:06Z")
This is just about the only invariable rule\* in English pronunciation there is. The rule for “a” vs. “an” is purely phonetic: if the next sound is a vowel sound, use “an”; otherwise “a”. E.g. “a university” (looks like a vowel, but not pronounced that way), “an honest man” (looks like a consonant, but the h is silent). \*The only exception I am aware of are certain assholes who for some strange reason, say “an historian” while pronouncing the h. I assume they have read it somewhere and didn’t realize that whoever wrote it must have a silent h there. This illustrates, incidentally, one of the real difficulties in any spelling reform.