Learn English – Usage of ‘a’ or ‘an’ after ‘As’

adverbsarticlesconjunctionsgrammar

Which is correct:

  • make it as information system for this company
  • make it as an information system for this company

I thought the second one sounds better but when I tried all spell/grammar checkers none of them marked the first one wrong.
When 'as' is used like this should it always be followed by 'a' or 'an'?

English is not my first language so pardon me for my mistakes.
I am in the process of making a thesis but stuck in this certain part so if anyone could help I'd be really grateful, thanks!

Best Answer

As doesn't change the rules you need for using articles with nouns.

Your noun phrase "information system" is:

  • not plural

  • not being used in the sense of describing a type or kind (you mean an actual instance of an information system)

  • not being used abstractly or describing a concept (again, you mean an actual instance of an information system)

  • not part of a well-known prepositional or other phrase that doesn't use articles (no preposition here)

so you need an article if you aren't using another determiner.

Here's an example where you would not use the article.

A: Hey, what category should I enter the cost for this piece of fabric under. Cloth or fabric?

B: It looks like a hand towel. Enter it as cloth. (We mean the type or category "cloth")

The verb "make" would rarely be used in this kind of context because "make" usually means to create an instance of X, so you are automatically not talking about X abstractly or as a type.

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