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AN acronym
3

AN acronym

AN acronym

(OP)
If UST is short for Underground Storage Tank, which would be correct when using the acronym form:
A UST was removed...
AN UST was removed...

What if a lesser known and used acronym, such as FS for Factor of Safety, is considered:
AN FS of 3 is used...
A FS of 3 is used...

Personally, I would use the former in both cases as they are currently written, but I was curious if there are any comments about this.  Would periods (e.g. F.S. and U.S.T.) change your answer at all?
Thanks.

RE: AN acronym

Use “an” if the first letter of the next word is a vowel, use “a” if not.

I see no reason to change that rule.

“An UST was removed.”  Would be correct.
You would never use “A underground storage tank was removed.”

“A FS was applied to the design.”  Would be correct.
You would never use “An factor of safety was applied.”

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com

RE: AN acronym

The article a or an is determined by how the acronym is pronounced or is most likely to be pronounced by the audience.  So, an eff ess or a hue ess tee, just how you have it.  I wouldn't think periods would affect pronunciation.

RE: AN acronym

I think you should 'spell' the beginning sound of the acronym or initialism.  If the sound spelling begins with a vowell, then you should use 'an', otherwise use 'a'.

The use of periods would only affect the article if the pronunciation is changed by the use of periods, which I think would only occur if the periods change the acroynum into an initialism.  For example, SCUBA has a different beginning sound than S.C.U.B.A.  

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

RE: AN acronym

3
"Exception" is a bit of a misnomer.  The rule has to do with pronunciation, not spelling.  No one needs to know how to read and write in order to speak.

I just ran into this not long ago.  I was using an abbreviation ("FC") as I wrote, to save myself some typing, but still thinking the whole word ("fracture-critical") in my head.  So I was using "a".  Then I realized that to a reader who doesn't have my inner voice in their head, "FC" wouldn't be pronounced "fracture-critical", it would be pronounced "eff see", so I needed to change them all to "an".  

That still bugged me, because I myself don't go around using "eff see" as an adjective.  At that point I figured I'd be best off not to be stingy with keystrokes, and replaced all the abbreviations with the full word.  If I don't say it, I shouldn't write it.

Which is a long-winded way of getting back to the OP.  If you were going to read your paper aloud to someone else, would you say "factor of safety" whenever you read "FS"?  Or would you say "eff ess"?

If you probably wouldn't normally say "eff ess", then I'd advise just spelling out "factor of safety" rather than trying to figure out which article seems less wrong.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376

RE: AN acronym

If the abbreviation SOUNDS like it starts with a vowel then use "an", otherwise use "a".

I suspect UST is pronounced "You ess tee". If this is the case then "A UST" is correct because UST starts with a Y sound.

"An FS" is correct because FS starts with an E sound.

RE: AN acronym

First, the misuse of the word acronym is a pet peeve of mine, so let's clear that up:

An acronym is a word formed when a phrase is abbreviated.  Examples: RAM, ROM, SCUBA, RADAR, LORAN, CAD, SONAR, NORAD, FUBAR, SNAFU.

An abbreviation (usually) takes the first letters of a phrase and strings them together.  Examples: FS, UST, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PE, URL (unless you like to pronounce this earl, in which case I suppose you could argue that it is an acronym), DNS.

So FS and UST are NOT acronyms. (Sorry MRM for making an example out of your post!)

Now that I've vented, I've often had the same question as the OP myself.  Often in newspapers I will see "a FS," obviously referring the article to the pronunciation of the full word, but that always seems wrong, since I usually think the abbreviation instead of the words.  (I'm just using FS as an example here.)  

On the other hand, one will also see "an NFL player" which sounds great unless you mentally substitute the actual words.  I have never seen the definitive answer.

With true acronyms, however, they are actual words and I believe they should be treated as such when determining whether to use "a" or "an."

Cheers,
Dean

RE: AN acronym

[humor]I always say "niffle" when talking about the Super Bowl.[/humor]  Not really, but I think I'll start.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: AN acronym

A large part of the confusion with regard to the abbreviations (initialisms, whatever) come from the fact that the "a(n)" rule comes from speech, and when people are writing they're not always thinking about speech.  So writers tend to automatically put "a" before an abbreviation that starts with a consonant.  But that's wrong.  It has everything to do with pronunciation and nothing with spelling.  

The only weirdness with this rule is the status of "h" in an unstressed syllable at the beginning of a word (such as "historic").  For some people the "h" is very weak in that environment, sometimes going away altogether, and "an" is proper.  For people who fully pronounce the "h" (which includes most Americans), the article should be "a".  The arbitrary notion of "an" going before words beginning with "h" just cuz that's the rule is as misguided as the bans on split infinitives and ending sentences with prepositions (both relatively recent inventions by grammar-book writers infatuated with Latin).  But I digress.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376

RE: AN acronym

Dreimer,

FS, UST, NFL etc are initialisms. Acronyms and initialisms are both types of abbreviation.

As for "A FS", the definitive answer is that it's wrong. The issue is the sound the letters make. The words that are represented are irrelevant.

FS is pronounced "Eff ess",  which starts with an E sound, thus "an" is appropriate. That's all there is to it.

RE: AN acronym

So then what is the rule that seems to require when refering to a Light Emitting Diode (LED) as "an LED."

Google "an LED" to see 1,200,000 hits.

RE: AN acronym

"A LED" and "An LED" are both ok because you can pronounce it as either:

"A led"   (starts with an L sound)

or:

"An ell ee dee"   (starts with an E sound)


There are 1,200,000 google hits for "An LED" and 1,600,000 hits for "A LED".

RE: AN acronym

Tomfh,

Thank you.  I don't think that I've said L-E-D in years so that didn't even occur to me. I believe that, at least among EE's, saying "Lead" is the norm now. But what a great trivia question.

RE: AN acronym

I don't think anyone other that EE's say that.  Or maybe it's regional - I've never heard a Light Emitting Diode refered to as a "lead", always and "ell ee dee".

As for the A/AN business, I would agree with those who say (like the OP) a UST and an FS.

Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas

"All the world is a Spring"

All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.

RE: AN acronym

Funny, I thought a "lead" was something you put in a pencil. It's an "ell ee dee" for this EE in this region (NW USA).

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