RE: A/An

["Bissell, Johanna" <Johanna -dot- Bissell -at- ASAMRA -dot- HOFFMAN -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

>snip<

So, in this and every case, the choice of a/an relies not in what sounds OK,
but what is technically correct. For example, HTML stands for HyperText
Markup Language (capitalization used for emphasis on the dominant letters
that make up the acronym). Though it *sounds* ok to say "An HTML
document..." it's technically incorrect because once you expand the acronym,
you get "An hypertext markup language document". 

Or am I completely and totally off on this?

>snip<

Bill,

The way I learned in school, and in the reference books I have available
here (including The Chicago Manual of Style), you are off on this. It does
rely on how the word is said, so HTML would be an HTML. Think of words with
a silent consonant, like honor or heir. The article to use is an, not a.
Just as the article before one is a, not an (Not a one.), because it is
pronounced "won". So regardless of word or abbreviation or acronym, whether
to use an or a depends on pronunciation.

Hannah Bissell
SI-ECC - Technical Writer

"...because life is too short to waste it whining."

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