Comments on: A vs. An: Should I Use A or An? https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/ GrammarBook.com Fri, 01 Sep 2023 23:39:07 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.5 By: GrammarBook.com https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1620138 Fri, 01 Sep 2023 23:39:07 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1620138 In reply to Dan.

The indefinite article a refers to “mythical description” in your example sentence.
“This is the result of a—in my honest and sincere opinion—mythical description of human nature.”

You could also rewrite as follows:
“This is the result of a mythical description of human nature (in my honest and sincere opinion).”
“In my honest and sincere opinion, this is the result of a mythical description of human nature.”
“This is, in my honest and sincere opinion, the result of a mythical description of human nature.”

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By: Dan https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1619704 Tue, 29 Aug 2023 22:28:29 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1619704 What if the indefinite article is followed by parentheses or a phrase separated by dashes? Do you determine the indefinite article by the first word in the parentheses or the first word after? Example:

“This is the result of a/an — in my honest and sincere opinion — mythical description of human nature.”

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By: GrammarBook.com https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1604525 Mon, 22 May 2023 19:59:27 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1604525 In reply to Anil Kumar.

Your sentence is correct as written.

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By: Anil Kumar https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1603940 Fri, 19 May 2023 05:28:43 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1603940 Please suggest the correct use of article in the sentence “The analysis was conducted on a Waters Alliance 2695 separation model.”

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By: GrammarBook.com https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1595277 Thu, 30 Mar 2023 16:58:49 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1595277 In reply to Ruth Hill.

As the post states, “In knowing when to use a or an, we should also consider how the following word sounds.” In other words, the sound supersedes the letter in using a or an. We would use a before words beginning with a consonant as well as y and w sounds. The word “use” starts with a y sound, so it would be preceded by a.

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By: Ruth Hill https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1595118 Wed, 29 Mar 2023 13:55:29 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1595118 What about the word use, that sounds like it starts with a Y? Is that proceeded by “a” or “an”? I’m writing the sentence “… or a ‘use other door’ sign…” and wonder if I should add the n. Honestly, since I’m not sure, I’ll change the sentence to “…or a sign reading ‘use other door’…” but if I would like to know for future use which is correct.

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By: GrammarBook.com https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1573878 Mon, 28 Nov 2022 17:59:28 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1573878 In reply to Karen.

As the post indicates, use an before a word that begins with a vowel sound. Therefore, write “…an Agreement…”

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By: Karen https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1573684 Sun, 27 Nov 2022 20:59:30 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1573684 A vs an

Provided that a Agreement for Payment is received….
or
Provided that an Agreement for Payment is received…

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By: GrammarBook.com https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1558454 Mon, 29 Aug 2022 23:05:18 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1558454 In reply to Clara.

Initialisms are pronounced with a starting vowel sound (“em”-bee-ay) or starting consonant sound (“eff”-bee-eye). This will influence whether to precede the initialism with “a” when the first following sound is a consonant or “an” when the following sound is a vowel.

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By: Clara https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/effective-writing/a-or-an/#comment-1558084 Sat, 27 Aug 2022 11:07:02 +0000 https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/?p=5182#comment-1558084 Why Use an MBA degree as question number (3)? What is the logic of that?

Kristen got an MBA degree.

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