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nobbyken
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Location: Yongin ^^
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 Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject: Grammar Question: Is it 'an MBA' or 'a MBA' |
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What is the grammar rule, in which we call it 'an MBA' instead of 'a MBA'?
Thanks,
Ken |
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ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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It's like "a sports utility vehicle" but we say "an SUV".
I don't know the rule, I just told my students it was to make pronunciation easier.
ilovebdt |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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'an MBA' because when you say the letter 'm', it leads with a vowel sound, 'em'. saying 'a MBA' isn't as smooth as 'an MBA'
Same deal with 'an SUV'... an ess-yoo-vee
Always use what sounds more natural. |
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nobbyken
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Location: Yongin ^^
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks dudes,
perfect explanation. 
Ken |
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
'an MBA' because when you say the letter 'm', it leads with a vowel sound, 'em'. saying 'a MBA' isn't as smooth as 'an MBA'
Same deal with 'an SUV'... an ess-yoo-vee
Always use what sounds more natural. |
Yeah, but I often see in books things like "an hunter", when clearly "a hunter" is easier to pronounce. I fully agree with you that you should use what sounds more natural - I just wish everyone else would do the same! |
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willneverteachagain
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| an |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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"an" is correct and "a" is incorrect. Many are misguided into believing that the use of "an" is strictly for words that start with a vowel. On the contrary, words that begin with a vowel sound such as "MBA", "hour" "M&M", "FTA", etc. take the article "an". The beginning sound of the word dictates when to use the article "a" or "an". If it is a consonant sound, then you use "a". If the beginning of the word starts with a vowel sound, then it uses "an".
Last edited by cubanlord on Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:13 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Scotticus
Joined: 18 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| butlerian wrote: |
Yeah, but I often see in books things like "an hunter", when clearly "a hunter" is easier to pronounce. I fully agree with you that you should use what sounds more natural - I just wish everyone else would do the same! |
I'm assuming that would depend on dialect. I mean, pronouncing "hunter" without the "h" sounds odd to me, but I would guess in some English speaking countries that's how it goes (British-English, maybe?). |
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ChuckECheese
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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We need to get rid of either "an" or "a". Just go with one, but not both.
I wonder which genius decided to use both "an" or "a". |
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Ryst Helmut
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Location: In search of the elusive signature...
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:22 am Post subject: |
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| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| I wonder which genius decided to use both "an" or "a". |
Me. Any questions?
Oh, and OP, Cubanlord is correct...it is the initial sound of the word that dictates the use of 'a' or 'an.' (a uniform vs an umbrella)
!shoosh,
Ryst |
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ChuckECheese
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:23 am Post subject: |
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| Ryst Helmut wrote: |
| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| I wonder which genius decided to use both "an" or "a". |
Me. Any questions? |
Yeah, why?  |
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daskalos
Joined: 19 May 2006
Location: The Road to Ithaca
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:48 am Post subject: |
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| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| Ryst Helmut wrote: |
| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| I wonder which genius decided to use both "an" or "a". |
Me. Any questions? |
Yeah, why? |
Euphony. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:48 am Post subject: http://www.drgrammar.org/faqs/#36 |
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I agree with the premise that function and usage trump grammar. Before looking it up, I would have said it depends on the sound, not the letter. Oxford apparently agrees.
A or An?
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According to The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, "The indefinite article a is used before words beginning with a consonant sound, including /y/ and /w/ sounds. The other form, an, is used before words beginning with a vowel sound. Hence, a European country, a Ouija board, a uniform, an FBI agent, an MBA degree, an SEC filing. Writers on usage formerly disputed whether the correct article is a or an with historian, historic, and a few other words. The traditional rule is that if the h- is sounded, a is the proper form. Most people following that rule would say a historian and a historic--e.g.:'Democrat Bill Clinton appears within reach of capturing the White House in Tuesday's election, but Republicans hope that late momentum, can enable President Bush to win a historic upset' (Dallas Morning News). Even H.W. Fowler, in the England of 1926, advocated a before historic(al) and humble (MEU1).
The theory behind using an in such a context, however, is that the h- is very weak when the accent is on the second rather than the first syllable (giving rise, by analogy, to an habitual offender, an humanitarian, an hallucinatory image, and an harassed schoolteacher). Thus no authority countenances an history[emphasis added], though a few older ones prefer an historian and an historical.
Today, however, an hypothesis and an historical are likely to strike readers and listeners as affectations. As Mark Twain once wrote, referring to humble, heroic, and historical: 'Correct writers of the American language do not put an before those words' (The Stolen White Elephant,1882). Anyone who sounds the h- in such words should avoid pretense and use a (Garner 1). |
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Ryst Helmut
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Location: In search of the elusive signature...
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:37 am Post subject: |
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| daskalos wrote: |
| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| Ryst Helmut wrote: |
| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| I wonder which genius decided to use both "an" or "a". |
Me. Any questions? |
Yeah, why? |
Euphony. |
Daskalos,
Who you callin' phoney?
Ok, Chuckster...since I is the genius...it's the reason as Daskalos stated: euphony. It, the use of a and an, I believe, is merely a mutation based on the ease/gentleness of linking (pronunciation-wise) the words. Same thing, I'd wager, for other languages that do the same (like 와 and 과) in Korean.
Lame enough reason for my pedantry?
!shoosh,
Ryst |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:12 am Post subject: |
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cubanlord is correct. It is the SOUND that is important here. It is 'an' MBA but it is also 'a' Masters.
Other tricky ones are:
'u'....a united....an unhappy
'h'... a happy...an honest
many of the consonants start with a vowel sound if you say their name...
an 'm', an 'n', but others don't: a 'p'; so words follow the rule, but abbreviations like MBA follow a special part of the rule. |
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