Dis Grammar experts, which of these sentences is correct?

[Meriweather]

N is actually spelled en, so an is correct ...... I do a lot of cross word puzzles and that is in them a lot

No idea what NSF stands for

 

[Christine]

So...everybody here knows what "NSF" is except me?

I don't know what it is either.

 

[SirDuff]

I could only think of Non-Sufficient Funds and National Science Foundation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSF

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I learned only from a few posts up where the poster says. It seems to be a sports team maybe?

He was wearing an NSF cap.

He was wearing a North Shore Frogmen cap.

 

[Micca]

I could only think of Non-Sufficient Funds

If you have that on a hat, your credit score is in the negative numbers.

 

[SirDuff]

If you have that on a hat, your credit score is in the negative numbers.

Yes, if you have that on your hat, the "a" versus "an" is probably the least of your troubles.

 

[disneychrista]

So...everybody here knows what "NSF" is except me?

It means non-sufficient funds to me but that can’t be right.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So...everybody here knows what "NSF" is except me?

I googled and found a list of possibilities. I chose North Shore Frogmen because it's near here.

 

[SirDuff]

I learned only from a few posts up where the poster says. It seems to be a sports team maybe?

But that wasn't the OP, so was likely a guess.

 

[moon]

I've learned quite a bit on this thread. Thanks everyone! Oh, and NSF stands for National Science Foundation

 

[PigletsPal2]

The first one needs a period, so lack of punctuation makes it wrong. The second ones wrong unless your trying to pose it as a question.
So I say both are wrong, did I win?

Well, if we're going to be picky, you spelled "ones" and "your" wrong in the second sentence, It should be "one's" as in "one is" and "you're" as in "you are." I'm a book editor and I see this kind of mistake every day.

Queen Colleen

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Correct, "N" is not a vowel. I said "vowel sound" . "N" has an "eh" sound at the start of it (see what I did there?).

Like saying "it was an honor to escort you". "H" is not a vowel, but the vowel sound "ah" starts word honor.

Grammar Girl backs up @PrincessShmoo

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/a-versus-an

 

[moon]

Well, if we're going to be picky, you spelled "ones" and "your" wrong in the second sentence, It should be "one's" as in "one is" and "you're" as in "you are." I'm a book editor and I see this kind of mistake every day.

Queen Colleen

Is it common for writers to make those kinds of mistakes?

 

[ols386]

He was wearing an NSF cap

Or

He was wearing a NSF cap?

The first one “an “.

 

[gemini2727]

It's all about ease in pronuncuation. "An" goes before a vowel sound. Same concept with "the". It should be pronounced as "thee" before a vowel sound. It happens in other languages too, such as Spanish. For example, Mary and Elizabeth is María e Isabel, not María y Isabel. There's a technical name for it but I forget it.

Never realized this about "the", and don't remember learning it as a grammar rule. I just tested my husband and he did change "the" to "thee" before vowel words, but didn't even realize he was doing it, funny...I guess it just sounds right that way.