FCPA Provision Not an SUA

François Tardif Dec 14, 2021:

@ Toni Contento que te haya servido colega. ¡Saludos de vuelta!

Toni Castano Dec 14, 2021:

Thank you François Very helpful your note on the right article before acronyms. You live and learn, truly. Saludos.

François Tardif Dec 14, 2021:

A o An delante sustantivos, adjetivos, etc. De acuerdo con Taña y Toni por la necesidad de más contexto.
En lo que respecta a la necesidad de cambiar el artículo inglés “an” por “a” delante de “SUA”, puedo confirmar que la regla gramatical estipula que el artículo se modifica según la fonética (no la ortografía) de la 1.ra letra de la palabra que sigue.
En el caso de una sigla, tal como “SUA” o “SUV”, uno pronuncia [ésyué], o [ésyuví], se debe de escribir “an” delante de esas palabras. Pero, se escribe “a star”, “a stone” porque el sonido de la 1ra letra es la de una consonante.
Finally, the rule applies to acronyms* [or, rather, initialisms, which are abbreviations pronounced letter by letter] as well. If you pronounce a letter as a letter and it begins with a vowel sound, you should precede it with an. The consonants with vowel sounds include f, h, l, m, n, r, s, and x.
*Acronyms are abbreviations pronounced as words.

https://www.grammar.com/a-vs-an-when-to-use
https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/writing-tips-pl...

Toni Castano Dec 14, 2021:

Agree with Taña I agree with her on all counts, 1) as for the meaning of both acronyms, and 2) as for the need of addtitional context.
This being said, a further, striking point to me is the presence of the indefinite article “an” in this case. In my opinion, the correct expression is “a SUA, not “an SUA” (but, agreed, this is secondary to the query).

Taña Dalglish Dec 14, 2021:

@ Alicia A little more context, I believe would be nice. Nevertheless, FCPA > Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and SUA > specified unlawful activity.