English Edification Enrichment-

English Edification Enrichment-


Why do we say "an MBBS" and "an MP"?

The rule for using the articles "a" and "an" is quite simple. Use "a" before words that begin with a consonant sound and "an" before words that begin with a vowel sound. Notice that I am not referring to the letter which a word begins with, but the sound.

Try this out. Say M.B.B.S. Now say the word "monkey". Do you hear a difference between the "m" in monkey and "MBBS"? The letter "m" when said in isolation, as it is done in the case of "MBBS" and "MP", begins with a vowel sound. That's the reason why you use the article "an". But the same letter in words like "monkey" and "man" begins with a consonant sound. This also explains why the word university" although it begins with the letter "u" does not take the article "an" before it. The word does not begin with a vowel sound; the "u" in university sounds like the "y" in "yes".