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Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 21:45:46 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: Re: node names
From: Quadibloc <jsav...@ecn.ab.ca>
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On Oct 29, 7:27=A0am, jmfbahciv <See.ab...@aol.com> wrote:
> Charlie Gibbs wrote:
> > In article
> > <35d6be63-c4b0-4688-83e8-0e76bd3e4...@b6g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>,

> > "E-mail" evolved from "mail", which is a collective noun; I feel
> > that this too should be inherited.
>
> So how do you write "an e-mail account"? =A0Using "a" doesn't sound
> right.

Huh? The use of "a" or "an" depends only on whether the word following
starts with a vowel.

If E-mail were a collective noun, that wouldn't preclude the use of an
indefinite article in this case, since here E-mail is acting as an
adjective, and the indefinite article applies to the following word.

Like "a water bill"; you don't say "a water", but since you do say "a
bill", it's OK. That's what he was talking about.

John Savard