There is a heated debate on a dental hygienist website.  When using RDH or Registered Dental Hygienist when do you use "an" and "a"?  I was taught to write "an RDH" since the letter R in this situation has a vowel sound.  When not using the acronym "RDH", it should be written "a Registered Dental Hygienist" because the letter R has a consonant sound.  Please help.
5900
99% of the time, I'm clear on when I should use "a" versus "an." There's one case, though, where people &amp; references I respect disagree.  Which of the following would you precede with "a" or "an," and why?   FAQ FUBAR SCUBA   [Note: I've read the questions  and , but the rules given there don't necessarily apply here.]    [Edited to add]  Here's a shorter (and hopefully clearer) version of the question…  In written English, which is correct (and why): "a FAQ" or "an FAQ"?  Some references with differing opinions:   an: the  and  a: the Microsoft Manual of Style for Tech Publications, 3e either: the  and
34202
Edit Note:  This question has been linked to these questions about using an article before adjectives modifying numbers. This question here has nothing to do with adjectives at all:       The question  Why do we use the article 'a' when referring to 100, but not when referring to any other plural counting?  Here's an example:     I saw a hundred birds today.   But when talking about other count that 100, we don't use 'a' because it's plural:        I saw ninety-nine birds today.   I saw two birds today.   I saw two thousand birds.   I saw seventy-five birds.      Is there a grammatical or historical explanation?
37626
I'm trying to pass a test on "Articles exercise" as they call it . Reviewing my answers I got stuck about the two I posted on the picture below.  As I understand both words are uncountable (according to the ), so it looks like (or said for example ) I can't say a/an with an uncountable noun.  But this test says the opposite. Is there some trick? Or am I just dumb? Please help me to understand why I need to use "a" article in these cases?        We need a secretary with ____ good knowledge of English.          a  (marked as the correct answer)   the     a / the     no article is needed (the answer I think is correct)        We're having ____ terrible weather.         a (marked as the correct answer)     the     a / the     no article is needed (the answer I think is correct)
53849
I was writing a text when I came to say 'a union', then it struck me that I need to change the 'a' to 'an'. But for some reason, 'an union' didn't sound right.   Why doesn't it work? Is it because its a mass noun, instead of a regular noun?
5400
I’ve been looking over what has been posted regarding the use of ’s.   I used to be a Technical Writer (years ago). The title of one of our training documents was Users’ Guide.  Once, a coworker said every time he saw that title he expected users to start coming.    Never made any sense to me, but I have to admit that the majority of us didn't understand the use of s’ in place of ’s.  What is the difference?
109573
Possible Duplicates:             If I remember correctly back to my school days, the rule is to use "a" if the next word starts with a consonant, or "an" if the next word is a vowel.  For example:   This is a banana.  This is an egg.   If the above is correct, then why does this sentence sound wrong...?   The account requires an username.
13762
I know that the  |  stands for the norm, however I see it sometimes with two lines, sometimes with one. Is there a difference? Do I need to take care when writing a formula?  So basically, is there a difference between     $|a|$ and $\|a\|$ ?   Is it the same when it comes to vectors instead of just numbers?
2550
Which indefinite article should precede hour — a or an?        an hour     a hour      Does the usage of an vs a depend on the pronunciation — a history, a hobby, but an hour, an honor?
96439
The article a becomes to an when the following noun starts with a vowel.     Not a adventure but an adventure.   But how is it, when there's an adjective before the noun?     Not a thrilling adventure or not an thrilling Adventure?   And how is it, when the adjective starts with a vowel but the noun does not?     Not a exciting tournament or not an exciting tournament?
12380
Is it correct to say user accounts or users account when referring to the accounts any user has on a site like this one?  In general, in the case of a noun that is used as adjective for the noun that follows, is it better to use &lt;plural-noun&gt; &lt;singular-noun&gt; or &lt;singular-noun&gt; &lt;plural-noun&gt;?
69271
I'd like to know the reason for the punctuation of the noun "brush-off" and the verb "to brush off": they have related meanings, but "brush-off" is the result of "to brush off", essentially. But one cannot write "to brush-off" as that just looks weird, as it is used for the noun version.  So the question, is the hyphen often used like this in English to differentiate a derived noun from a verb?
33348
If I were to use the sentence "There are lots of John Smiths" in the world, would that be the correct use for saying that there are a lot of people named John Smith in the world?  I don't think there should be an apostrophe as that would imply ownership of something.  If my first example is correct, then what would you do if the name referenced already ended with an 's'?
89594
Which is proper/acceptable?  Take for instance this sentence:     We would like to use IBM machines.   Now consider that I needed to fully qualify IBM... How do I make this not read strangely?     We would like to use IBM (International Business Machines) machines.   or      We would like to use International Business Machines (IBM) machines.   (Please note that IBM is not the real acronym but it's similar to what I need to pull off)  EDIT:  I should add that part of my question is that if it's incorrect or less correct to put [Fully qualified name] (Acronym) or [Acronym] (Fully qualified name)
46832
Say we have an acronym or abbreviation like SSH (Secure Shell). What is the correct form of the following phrase? 1) An SSH console 2) A SSH console  I tend to use the first because it "sounds" right. However, a reader of the phrase could expand the abbreviation and read "an secure shell" which obviously sounds wrong! Is there a definite rule for this or the choice is made based on the sound of the phrase?
63232
[...] Leonardo da Vinci became renowned for his multiple talents: he was a painter, architect, engineer, mathematician and inventor.   In the above sentence, why has only one "a" been used, even for words that begin with a vowel?
15286
Can someone please elucidate the difference between "many" and "many a"? In what context of usage should we add an extra "a" beside the word "many"?  For example:         Many times, I had seen that . . . .   Many a times, I had seen that . . . .      I do not know if the example is accurate enough to support my question, but I would like to know the difference between how they are used.
96628
My question is can I always pronounce THE with thuh instead of thee? Because unlike "a" "an" rule, pronouncing "thee" seems cumbersome for some people (including me) Note that I know the "emphasis" and "vowel, consonant" rule about THE but I still prefer to pronounce it as thuh everytime. So can I??