A little doubt often creeps in when using an indefinite article (a/an) before an acronym or an initialism. Firstly, let’s just quickly distinguish between these two.
An acronym is an abbreviation from the initial letters of other words and then pronounced as a word. For example: NASA, SCUBA, RADAR, UNICEF, NATO.
An initialism, while also an abbreviation from the initial letters of other words, cannot be pronounced as a word. Each letter has to be pronounced separately, eg BBC, FBI, RSVP, VIP.
So, which indefinite article precedes these ‘words’? Continue reading “Which indefinite article to use before Acronyms and Initialisms”