2

Whether to use ‘a’ or ‘an’ before acronyms/initialisms

Do you use "a" or "an" before acronyms / initialisms?

I think I understand the issues and principles as expressed by various contributors on this question. But here’s an interesting one: is it equally correct to write ‘an SSSI’ and ‘a SSSI’? The former would be articulated as ‘an es es es I’ and the latter ‘a triple S I’.

If the latter is equally acceptable are there any similar cases?

Thank you.

Alan Hughes
  • 21
  • 1
    This does answer your question: Do you use "a" or "an" before acronyms / initialisms? The accepted answer at the duplicate contains such an example: 'a FAQ' if treated as an acronym; 'an FAQ' if treated as an initialism. //// The a / an choice is determined almost solely on the basis of the following sound (there is a grey area with a/an hotel, a/an historic, when the h-word is aspirated). – Edwin Ashworth Oct 24 '20 at 11:48

1 Answers1

0

The article is chosen based on the pronunciation of the first letter of the acronym. 'NASA' is pronounced as if if were a word, i.e. not N-A-S-A, so "A NASA official announced....." but NSA is pronounced as letters, and the letter N, when said aloud, started with a vowel sound, "en" therefore, "An NSA official was arrested today."

JTP - Apologise to Monica
  • 954