Article Choice with Acronyms (Sound, Not Spelling)
5 exercises — practise choosing "a" or "an" before tech acronyms based on how they sound when spoken.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Choose the sentence with the correct article before the acronym.
"She built an API for the mobile team" is correct: "API" is pronounced starting with the vowel sound "ay" (/eɪ/), so it takes "an", following the sound, not the spelling. Option B incorrectly uses "a", ignoring the initial vowel sound. Option C spells out the letters unnaturally within the sentence, which is not standard written usage. Option D incorrectly stacks both "the" and "an" before the noun, which is ungrammatical.
2 / 5
Which sentence uses the correct article before "URL", based on its pronunciation?
"Please send me a URL for the staging environment" is correct: "URL" is pronounced starting with a consonant sound, "you" (/juː/), so it takes "a", not "an", even though the written first letter "U" is a vowel. Option B incorrectly uses "an", following the spelling instead of the sound. Option C stacks "the" and "a" incorrectly. Option D unnaturally spells out the letters in running text.
3 / 5
Select the sentence with the correct article before "HTML" element, based on pronunciation.
"This is an HTML attribute that controls accessibility" is correct: "HTML" is pronounced starting with "aitch" (/eɪtʃ/), a vowel sound, so it takes "an" despite "H" being a consonant letter in spelling. Option B incorrectly uses "a", following spelling rather than pronunciation. Option C adds an unnecessary and unnatural spelled-out fragment. Option D incorrectly combines "the" and "an" before the noun phrase.
4 / 5
Which sentence uses the correct article before "UI", based on how it is spoken?
"The team redesigned a UI component used across the dashboard" is correct: "UI" is pronounced starting with "you" (/juː/), a consonant sound, so it takes "a", even though "U" is a written vowel. Option B incorrectly uses "an" based on spelling rather than pronunciation. Option C incorrectly stacks "the" and "a". Option D unnaturally spells the letters out within the sentence.
5 / 5
Choose the sentence with the correct article before "SQL" query, based on how the acronym is typically pronounced.
"He wrote an SQL query to aggregate the monthly totals" is correct when "SQL" is pronounced letter-by-letter, "ess-cue-ell" (/ɛs/), which starts with a vowel sound, so it takes "an" in that common pronunciation. (Note: speakers who pronounce it as the word "sequel" would instead use "a SQL", since "sequel" starts with a consonant sound; article choice always follows the pronunciation actually used.) Option B, "a SQL", only fits the "sequel" pronunciation, not the letter-by-letter one assumed here. Option C unnaturally spells out the letters in running text. Option D incorrectly combines "the" and "an".