Infinik  +  866524 Tue, 18 Aug 09 02:33 AM Hi,   a LED v. an LED   Which is correct? Google and you'll find they are nearly equally used.      Infinik Joined on Mon, Jan 14 2008 Full Member 115

	Yankee  +  866526 Tue, 18 Aug 09 02:39 AM Hi Infinik You use "an" before a vowel sound.  So, if the pronunciation of LED is "el - ee - dee", then you should use "an". - an LED display Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,494 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain Vowels, Pronunciation, Speaking

	Infinik  +  866535 Tue, 18 Aug 09 02:45 AM You are absolutely right.   But I'm just wondering if people in the field of LED would pronounce it as "led". If that's the case, it may justify high percentage of "a LED" used. Infinik

	Yankee  +  866557 Tue, 18 Aug 09 03:04 AM I've never heard anyone pronounce LED (as in LED display) the same way they pronounce "led". I'd say it's more likely a case of people not thinking about what they are writing. People get into the habit of using "a" when writing words that begin with a consonant, and they sometimes do that even though they would say it differently. The same sort of thing happens with words such as "unique". Even though native speakers would automatically say "a unique design", people sometimes accidentally write "an unique design" simply because they're not paying close enough attention and the typing of "an" before an letter that is a vowel is automatic.  It may also sometimes be a case of "hypercorrection". In other words, someone might think they are using a correct grammar rule when in fact they are not. Hypercorrection By the way, when I did a Google search for "a LED display" and "an LED display" there were nearly four time more results for "an LED display". Yankee Vowels, Consonants

	RayH  +  866577 Tue, 18 Aug 09 03:31 AM Infinik “But I'm just wondering if people in the field of LED would pronounce it as "led". If that's the case, it may justify high percentage of "a LED" used.” I used to work in a field where we used a lot of LEDs in our circuit boards. We almost always pronounced it as a word so, "a LED". Which way it's pronounced is probably largely a matter of the culture of a particular company. For example, if there is a respected engineer who says "an L-E-D" then others will likely do so as well. RayH Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008 Contributing Member 1,555 Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert.

	Infinik  +  866611 Tue, 18 Aug 09 03:59 AM Yankee, thanks for your clarification.   I got this another related question. Does acronym exempt from this "an LED" rule? Do we always try to pronounce an acronym before we precede it with an "a" or "an"?   Like RayH's reply, or take this example:   We are operating on an LASIK machine. (If we pronounce L-A-S-I-K)   We are operating on a LASIK machine. (If we pronounce as one word beginning with a consonant sound) Infinik Consonants, Acronyms

	Yankee  +  866623 Tue, 18 Aug 09 04:11 AM Hi Infinik If, as Ray has said, there are places/companies that actually pronounce "LED" the same way they pronounce the past form of "lead" (i.e. as "led"), then I would expect them to also say "a LED". I just have never heard anyone say "LED" that way myself. It always depends on the pronunciation. If the first sound is a vowel sound when the word is spoken, then we use "an" with it. It's as simple as that. - an SOS   (an ESS - OH - ESS) - an HP printer  (an AITCH - PEE printer) - a one-armed bandit  (The first sound in the word "one" is like the consonant W.) Yankee Vowels, Pronunciation, Speaking