I am absolutely in love with the write-ups in which Grammar Nazis subtly yet strongly point out our mix-ups and make us realize no matter how much we read and expand our vocabulary, Grammar will always be a colossal snafu. The subtleties and nuances of Grammar are blah and blah and in simpler words, Grammar is like Blue Marlin – The hardest fish to catch.
Am I Grammar Nazi? Most certainly No!!!! But I like to think I am different from the crowd by using more correct and elegant Grammar. I am using the word more correct instead of correct because ever since junior school I am on a Grammar- Awakening spree and almost every week I learn something new and correct my barbarism.
In my opinion we all will speak correct Grammar on the resurrection day and Shakespeare shall rise from his grave to bless us.
“Thee” knows the difference between amused and bemused and illusion and delusion but here after due research we want to liberate “thou” even more.
Vowel is a sound not a letter. Not every word beginning with a vowel – a, e, i, o, u has “an” before them and many words starting from consonants have “an” before them.
Are you bemused my pet? Wait I will explain
- An MBA. It’s an MBA not a MBA. MBA is pronounced as em-bee-aay. Phonetics baby. The M in MBA is not spoken as an M sound but an em sound, like an E in the beginning. For example- Harry is an MBA from Stanford.
- An MBBS. An MBBS because of em sound in the M of MBBS.
- An Xmas tree. It’s an Xmas tree, because the phonetics breaks down the pronunciation into “ex-mas.” I again repeat vowel is a sound not an alphabet. Please note we are not referring to the word Christmas. It has a different sound and pronunciation.
- An Honorary mention. H is silent in the word honorary, it’s pronounced as onorary. “Steve got an honorary mention at the World Power Saving Convention.” Same rule applies to the words hour, honest and honor. H is silent in all cases and o is treated as the first letter of the word, that’s why we say an hour, an honest man, it’s an honor sir.
- An MLA. Oh yeah! He is an MLA but he is a Member of Parliament. Do you get it? MLA is again said as “em-el-aay” but in the elongation Member of Parliament the word Member has an M sound. Like MLA, MP has an e sound in the beginning. So it’s correct to say “an MP” not a MP.
- A University. Now all the university scholars out there, have you ever heard an University. No, because the sound of U in University is a long U sound which translates into “yew.” So the sound manifests into “yew-ni-ver-sity.” Y is a consonant and so we use ‘a’ or ‘the’ before the words University, Unicorn ad Uniform. They all have the same sound and same manner of pronunciation.
- A European country. Again the EU, in the beginning, is pronounced as Y. It’s the same sound of Y in “you.” So the correct version is A European country not an European country.
I am sure most of your peers don’t know the difference. Go to them and boast a little. A little boasting never kills.
Whoa that’s pretty much. If you think we have missed out something please feel free to add them in comments section. Your opinion is an invaluable asset to us. Please share and spread.
