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Discussion

Correct grammar

Hi !

Doing a paper for a myocardial infarction and when I abbreviate it to MI, is it preceded by A or AN.

When I type it out, I want to write the patient had an MI rather that the patient had a MI.

What is correct??

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    If you define the abbreviation, as Don1984 says, it is perfectly acceptable to use it throughout the section of the paper. Instructors that object to that need to define which format they are using that makes in unacceptable. APA certainly allows for it.

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    "I do that too." Means you also do what has been mentioned.

    "I do that, too." Implies you do what has been mentioned alongside previously mentioned things.

    So it's the first one :D

    It's all just too much!!!! :wacky:

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    If I use an abbreviation I always use the full word first and then the rest of the paper use the initials. "Patient had a myocardial Infarction (MI) yesterday." Never had an instructor count off for abbreviations if I define them previously.[/quote'] This..
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    • Expert

    It is grammatically correct to use the article that belongs to the word. You would say "the patient had a MI", not "an".

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    It is grammatically correct to use the article that belongs to the word. You would say "the patient had a MI", not "an".

    I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. We say "a myocardial infraction" because the article refers to a word (myocardial) that sounds with a consonant's sound. We use 'a' or 'an' based on the following sound, so when we say "MI" (pronounced: em eye), we use 'an' because 'em' starts with a vowel sound. Same reason why we say 'an hour' even though 'hour' begins with a consonant.. it's because the first sound pronounced is the 'o'.

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    It is grammatically correct to use the article that belongs to the word. You would say "the patient had a MI" not "an".[/quote'] Try saying that out loud. Saying "a MI", much like saying "a apple", sounds clumsy because both those words (or abbreviation in the case of MI) start with vowel sounds.
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    If I use an abbreviation, I always use the full word first and then the rest of the paper use the initials. "Patient had a myocardial Infarction (MI) yesterday." Never had an instructor count off for abbreviations if I define them previously.

    That's what APA calls for. :)

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