ABBREVIATIONS AND ARTICLES

Question

Hi,Is it common or correct to use the definite article before what looks to be the abbreviation of a govenment organization at one time and don't use it at another time? I think for some government or non-government names, the definite article is put in consideration of a main noun/word.I don't know this particular Korean organization exits currently or not.The Korean National Tourism Organization ... KNTO operates tourist information centers.

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

In cases like this, the definite article is required when the name is written out in full, but it is in my view acceptable to omit it before the abbreviation. So, yes, I think it's fine to write:

The Korean National Tourism Organization (KNTO) ...

And thereafter, for example,

KNTO operates tourist information centers.

"The KNTO" seems OK too, but you should be consistent. You shouldn't mix "the KNTO" and "KNTO".

However, with some well-known acronyms and abbreviations, conventions apply. For example, "the NATO" is wrong, even though in full it would be "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization". On the other hand, "The United Nations" always keeps the article even when abbreviated: "the UN". Without having studied this, I don't know if there's any logic here, or whether the conventions are just arbitrary and have to be learnt individually.

ABBREVIATIONS AND ARTICLES

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