Saw an ad last night on the SyFy channel that included the copy:Â "Register now and get an HD copy of ..."
That just didn't scan. As it's pronounced in the spoken language, "an HD" works just fine. But when displayed as text and not spoken, the "an" just kinda grated on my "internal ear." Seems like "a" would have been more appropriate. A search of "an vs. a" wasn't much help ... all I could find was the spoken language rules.
Would appreciate some feedback from other forum members on their take about any "written vs. spoken" style guidelines. As I look back at some of my writing, I see I've done it both ways ... somewhat inconsistently. Thanks.
I am no authority but would write it like I say it. For example, I might have an herb in the garden but I have a Herb (as a few people call him) for a father.
Here is a page that teaches grammar says that the spelling doesn't matter, that when a word starts with a vowel sound, you use an an.Â
When I read silently, I *still* read aloud in my head; it's just that I've thrown out the clutch for the voicing mechanism. Once I get to the "does that look right?" point, though, nothing looks right. I have to think "that's not right" and correct things without thinking, in order for my biological auto-correct to work.
I'm sure some psychologist has earned his doctorate studying biological auto-correct, and there is a name for that "if you think about it, you're in dee-doodoo" syndrome, but I don't think I've ever heard it.
Do you really read text silently, instead of listening to yourself reading without using your mouth? I'm not sure which one of us is the strange one on this topic. (I know I'm the strange one on plenty of other things.) Now there is another topic for a doctoral thesis....
It seems the choice of  An   or   A   should suggest the vocalizing  ( both in your head and outward ):
An  HD copy   says   An h d copy
A   HD copy   says   A  hot dish copy
An  FBI agent  says   An f b i agent
A   FBI agent  says   A fat bikinied imp agent
An  NFL athlete says  An n f l athlete
A   NFL athlete says  A neat fine lathered athlete
It does seem odd that eff and aich are consonants that begin with vowels. I guess it goes in the "why do we park in a driveway, and drive on a parkway?" file.