4 ms·

"an physical debit card" ? I swear I see this mistake so often it makes me question whether I actually understand when to use "an"...

wrigby 9y ago
The actual headline is 'Venmo is offering users an (ugly) physical debit card,' so the '(ugly)' part complicates this. From a quick search, it seems like 'an' is correct here, because the '(ugly)' part isn't an independent clause... or something like that.
- NoodleIncident 9y ago
  "a" vs "an" is solely a matter of pronunciation; you go off of the next word no matter what it is.
  - wrigby 9y ago
    That's what I had assumed, but this grammar StackExchange[1] answer seemed to specify that there are exceptions. Admittedly, I didn't read the articles he linked. 1: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/115200 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/115200
    - umanwizard 9y ago
      > I need an (well, if I need anything at all) idiom. This is not an English sentence. No native English speaker would produce this (regardless of a/an)
- SilasX 9y ago
  That's always tricky to do, since you want the parenthetical to be optional -- the sentence should work even if you remove it totally. So I personally would have done "... offering users a(n ugly) physical debit card", but I concede that can look pedantic at best and confusing at worst.
sparky_z 9y ago
This type of error creeps in a lot when redrafting sentences. For example, maybe the submitter originally wrote "an actual debit card", then decided that saying "physical" instead would make the distinction clearer. It's very easy to just change the word and forget to check the words around it. Edit: Or, as wrigby pointed out, they removed the word "(ugly)" from the techcrunch headline.
paublyrne 9y ago
I don't think a native speaker would ever make this mistake - it sounds incredibly awkward. It's not in the same class as many well-known and common spelling mistakes, like grocer's apostrophe, loosers, and others. This case the poster probably went back to remove the missing word because of the character limit on HN descriptions.
virtualwhys 9y ago
No, you're not crazy, "an ox", "a fox", "an apple", "an physical debit card". All but the latter roll off the tongue. Must be the same in French with the liaison -- wonder what the equivalent butcherings are ;-)
deleted 9y ago
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wrigby 9y ago

The actual headline is 'Venmo is offering users an (ugly) physical debit card,' so the '(ugly)' part complicates this. From a quick search, it seems like 'an' is correct here, because the '(ugly)' part isn't an independent clause... or something like that.

NoodleIncident 9y ago
"a" vs "an" is solely a matter of pronunciation; you go off of the next word no matter what it is.
- wrigby 9y ago
  That's what I had assumed, but this grammar StackExchange[1] answer seemed to specify that there are exceptions. Admittedly, I didn't read the articles he linked. 1: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/115200 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/115200
  - umanwizard 9y ago
    > I need an (well, if I need anything at all) idiom. This is not an English sentence. No native English speaker would produce this (regardless of a/an)
SilasX 9y ago
That's always tricky to do, since you want the parenthetical to be optional -- the sentence should work even if you remove it totally. So I personally would have done "... offering users a(n ugly) physical debit card", but I concede that can look pedantic at best and confusing at worst.

sparky_z 9y ago

This type of error creeps in a lot when redrafting sentences. For example, maybe the submitter originally wrote "an actual debit card", then decided that saying "physical" instead would make the distinction clearer. It's very easy to just change the word and forget to check the words around it. Edit: Or, as wrigby pointed out, they removed the word "(ugly)" from the techcrunch headline.

paublyrne 9y ago

I don't think a native speaker would ever make this mistake - it sounds incredibly awkward. It's not in the same class as many well-known and common spelling mistakes, like grocer's apostrophe, loosers, and others. This case the poster probably went back to remove the missing word because of the character limit on HN descriptions.

virtualwhys 9y ago

No, you're not crazy, "an ox", "a fox", "an apple", "an physical debit card". All but the latter roll off the tongue. Must be the same in French with the liaison -- wonder what the equivalent butcherings are ;-)

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]