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[ed boy]

I have noticed some inconsistency about whether a or an is used in conjunciton with acronyms. Consider the following sentences:

Doom is a FPS
Doom is an FPS

The first sentence is technically correct - F is a constonant, so it is more suitable to use "a" instead of "an". However, people are more likely to use the second sentence. When speaking this is understandable, as phonetically it is correct (FPS is Eff-Pee-Ess), but when typing or writing, some people say "an". I have noticed that people with english as their first language are more likely to do this.

So, Bay12: What do you lot do with your acronyms?

[Josephus]

I'm not sure. I work with how the Acronym is pronounced, rather than the actual spelling of the word - for example, it would make sense if I wrote "FPS" but said "First Person Shooter", but I don't. Instead I write "FPS" and also say "FPS".

Come to think of it, what about Y?

[Quarr]

The latter, always. I'm pretty sure you use an before a vowel sound, not just a vowel. It really boils down to whether you're the sort of person who, when reading 'FPS' thinks 'First Person Shooter' immediately, or the sort of person who doesn't. I don't, so I use an 'an' instead of an 'a'.

Sub-discussion: An historic/hotel vs. a historic/hotel
I lean toward the latter, except when in English class.

[Josephus]

I'd take the former. For example, I'm an historian.

But that one is dependent on where you are, or who is writing. Different people pronounce historian different ways.

[Muz]

Yeah, I call according to pronouncation. I've always thought a few times on whether "an RPG" is the right grammar, but nobody corrected me You don't see people typing "a hour", it's always "an hour".



Also, what about plural forms? 'RPGs' seem fair. FPSs or FPSes or FPS-es?

[Josephus]

Well, even in the expanded form that's technically correct.

"RPG-s"
"Role Playing Game-s"

But I have no idea about FPSes/FPSs/FPS's.

[Jay]

"An heroic deed" is technically correct, though it sounds strange, and I've quite literally never heard anyone use it in speech in 30 years.
...This is how that "An hero" meme came about, I suppose.

[Josephus]

Are you saying that it was, technically, grammatically correct?

[3]

I always let the acronym take precedent, so it should always be "an FPS" and "FPSes" for me. "FPS's" doesn't make much sense at all by that rule (even though it should technically be "FPS'").

I'm a bit wobby when it comes to h, but I generally prefer the former. And yes, h is weird when it comes to a/an. Yet another bizarre quirk of the English language.

[Rose]

an 'eroic deed is hoow many brits and aussies pronounce it.

ZI randomly shift between british any american pronunciation for everything, myself.

[ILikePie]

The form "an" is always prescribed before words beginning with a silent h, such as "honorable", "heir", "hour", and, in American English, "herb"

I do this. For words that start with a silent h I use an an, and for others, such as ham, helmet, and helicopter, I use an a.

Edit: now with more grammatical fun!

However, it has become common among many writers to inflect initialisms as ordinary words, using simple s, without an apostrophe, for the plural. In this case, compact discs becomesCDs. The logic here is that the apostrophe should be restricted to possessives: for example, the CD’s label (the label of the compact disc)

But that's for period-less abbreviations, what about when you have something like F.P.S. ? I'd just break it up at this point (IE use first person shooters instead of F.P.S.s), but that's just me.

[3]

what you have

I am disappoint.

[ILikePie]

That's what I get for not rereading my posts.
fixed.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Long story short: English is an evil and sadistic language that is both grammatically complex and easily mutated, leading to the horrid mess of loopholes and contratictory rules we have today. And it does not help that schools try to reverse what changes take place, such as the growing acceptance of using a conjunction to start a sentance.

[devek]

A ATM Machine?