Have you ever heard about the word scuba or maybe a sitcom? Did you know that these words are a form of acronyms? Dive deeper into this article to find out more about what is acronym.
First of all, let’s talk about the definition of acronym itself!
What is an Acronym?
Acronyms are a form of abbreviation of two or more words using the initial letters or a group of letters. Acronyms are used to shorten a long term of words into something that is easier to read, and understand. Some people even use acronyms to make a word sound more catchy.
Next, there are some types of acronyms that you might find in your daily life. Here’s the information about them!
Types of Acronyms
There are 3 common types of acronyms that are commonly used in daily life.
Letter Acronym
You can make this type of acronyms if you abbreviate some words. Some examples of this kind of acronyms include: UNESCO, UNICEF, LOL, ASAP, IMAX, OTW, and many more.
Syllabic Acronym
You can make this type of acronyms if you abbreviate some words. Some examples of this kind of acronyms include: UNESCO, UNICEF, LOL, ASAP, IMAX, OTW, and many more.
Hybrid Acronym
For this type of acronym, it is a combination of both letter acronym and syllabic acronym. Some examples of this acronym include: DEFCON, and MATCON.
Now, you already understand more about acronyms, right? Next, to broaden your knowledge about acronyms, we will inform you about the differences between acronyms and initialism. Thus, you can avoid confusion between these two terms.
Differences Between Acronym and Initialism
Both Acronym and Initialism are a form of abbreviation and both are quite similar. However, there are some differences between the two that makes them both unique. Here are some differences between both of them so you don’t mistake one for another.
Pronunciation
You must pronounce acronyms in a single word, meanwhile you can pronounce initialism letter by letter.
Capitalizations
Almost all acronyms are written in capital letters, however in some cases there are acronyms that are not written in full capital letters. In the initialism case, it is always written in full capital letters.
To understand more about how to use initialism and when to use it, you can check it on our page Fun English Course! So, you can enhance your English skills by studying with us!
Next, let’s move on to when to use acronyms in your sentences!
When to Use Acronyms
Although it is a lot easier and simpler to use acronyms. it can not always be used. In writing something there are some rules for using acronyms like.
- Before using an acronym, you need to mention the full term at first on the sentence before and mention the acronym inside a parenthesis.
- It is better to use an acronym for abbreviating three or more words.
- The use of an acronym is necessary if the term is there for two or more times in the whole text. According to some guidelines, it appears that you can use acronyms only if the words appear more than 5 times.
The rules mentioned above can be a consideration when you’re writing something and can make your writing better. So, the next time you write, keep in mind these rules.
Well, that is all that you need to know on what is acronym. If you want to know more about acronyms and the examples of sentences that include acronyms in it, you can visit our page Fun English Course. You also can look out for other information related to English grammar! Hope that you find this article useful and help you to use acronyms in a better way.