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Mon 12 May, 2014 01:20 am
There was a time when I had to mention 'email',
and I, as a non-native speaker, couldn't help but wonder :
Is 'emails' a correct expression ?
As far as I know, the term 'email' must not have an article 'an',
making 'I've got an email' incorrect.
The concept of email came into birth like a couple of decades ago.
Then, at the very day the term 'email' turned up for the first time,
there must have some arguments whether 'an email' is right or not.
Is the expression 'an email', in most cases, still considered incorrect?
Is there any logical reason why 'email' should not be used as 'an email'?
As a foreigner, actually the most complicated part of English is definitely, the area of articles (a, an, the)
Anyway, I'd love to hear your tips.
Thanks for reading.
I would say "an email," and see nothing odd about that. I am mystified as to why you wold assert that "an email" is incorrect. The only variation i see is that some people invariable write it as "e-mail"--but i would still say or write "an e-mail."
The use of indefinite articles is not really difficult. The indefinite article "a" is used in all cases, except for those nouns or modifiers which begin with a vowel sound. So, you might say "It was a day like any other,: But you would say "It was anu ordinary day"--because the adjective ordinary begins with a vowel sound. If this is not clear to you, perhaps i can provide more examples.
@SMickey,
Really? I thought prepositions were more confusing, and I'm a native speaker of American English.
Email is a funny one. I'm just as comfortable saying "I sent you an email" as I am in saying "I am going to check my email". Sorry I can't help, but I don't think grammar has caught up with technology. Sometimes, email is written as e-mail. Personally, I don't bother with the hyphen.
@Setanta,
I'm much relieved to know you see nothing odd about it. I'd go with 'an e-mail' as of now. Thanks Setanta.
@roger,
I just thought a little bird had told me that 'email' is much more common than 'emails'. That's why. As I realized a native speaker of American English doesn't regard 'an email' as a weird one, I'd rather feel comfortable using it. Thank you a million.
@SMickey,
You can have an email. Sometimes you have two emails.
Clearly, I misunderstood the question.
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