Now
we most certainly are aware with the basic usage of ‘a’ and ‘an’ while framing
verbal and written sentences in English. What I am trying to explore here is of
more intricate nature. So before we delve further into this curious case of ‘a’ and ‘an’, let’s check out the prelude to what ticked me off on this expedition.
But before that, here’s the basic usage of ‘a’
and ‘an’ for the uninitiated.
- - Use ‘a’ for words (nouns/adjectives) that start
with alphabets other than vowels.
- - Use ‘an’ for referring words staring with a
vowel - A, I, O, U, E; also H sometimes.
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| Know when to use either 'a' or 'an' while referring to an ancronym |
So
weeks ago, I was doing this freelance content work for an IT company, here in
Pune. I was drafting a Press Release. Now we all know the practice of SEOing
your web content in order to make it seeable on the mammoth internet (guess
even I should start doing this). So I was given a set of keywords to be
incorporated in the press release. And then there was one particular keyword -
an acronym - to be used in the headline of the press release.
I
tried and tried. But something wasn't right. My efforts were futile. So I
simply skipped the headline, only to be reworked upon later after the
completion of the Press Release. Perhaps, an hour later I must have finished
with the press release but was still stuck with the correct incorporation of
that keyword in the headline.
The
keyword was SIEM, standing for Security Information & Event Management. And
as per their guidelines (which stated simple statements, no grandiloquent
language), the best headline that I could come up with, whilst doubting my
ability, was this - ProActEye delivers a SIEM breakthrough. +ProActEye Managed SIEM as SaaS
So the
glitch that held me back for so long was whether I should be using ‘a’ or ‘an’ before the term SIEM. I tried and failed miserably in evading
the article use. So I had to when I had to. With an anxious nerve, I finally
decided to go with ‘a’. Later, I took
to an English-Grammar Group in Google+ to find the answer to my confusion. The
image below is a snapshot of the clarification received from +Bill Davis, which clearly specifies
the answer.
 |
| A snapshot of the comments section |
He
opines, if SIEM were to be pronounced as one single word (meaning: pronounced
as SEE-EM) then in that case ‘a’
would imply before SIEM in the headline. But otherwise, if the pronunciation
was alphabet specific (like EES-AYE-EE-EM), the usage of ‘an’ would deem best.
That’s
it, my problem was solved and confusion was bloated away. I really heaved a
sigh of relief that grammatically and technically I was right, because in the IT world the acronym SIEM was actually pronounced as SEE-EM. So my headline was right.
So
folks, hope this suffices the others like me out there - ‘a’ or ‘an’ depending on
the pronunciation of the acronym would do well in the sentence.
