Term Question

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Dollan
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Term Question

Post #1by Dollan » 18.08.2006, 17:25

I'm likely picking nits here, but is it "ESA", or is it "the ESA" when used in a sentence?

...John...
"To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe..."
--Carl Sagan

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selden
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Post #2by selden » 18.08.2006, 17:33

Their own Web site omits the article "the".

Although one would write "...the European space agency...", by itself the acronym ESA seems to be considered a proper noun, so it doesn't need the article.

See http://www.esa.int/
Selden

Topic author
Dollan
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Post #3by Dollan » 18.08.2006, 17:34

Many thanks!

...John...
"To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe..."
--Carl Sagan

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selden
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Post #4by selden » 18.08.2006, 17:40

You're quite welcome.

For those who are interested in English usage, this Web page seems to describe articles and proper nouns reasonably well:

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/articles.html
Selden


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