About the misspellings and grammar mistakes:    One I've found very common not only in this boards but everywhere is the use of a and an, if I recall correctly my English lessons :D you use a before words starting in a non-vowel SOUND, and you use an before words starting with a vowel SOUND, for example:    an apple  a pineapple    Not only I've seen mistakes like these, but they have raised questions/confusion... are there exceptions? for example in sentence like these:    an USA-grown apple - my guess  a USA-grown apple     a USA-grown pineapple  an USA-grown pineapple - my guess    Which ones are correct? In those sentences the rule is applied to the immediate next word (USA) or to the word (noun) that the article (a/an) it's actually referring to (apple/pineapple)??    other examples could be:    a/an OPEC alliance   a/an OPEC cease-fire  - my guess: both with an    a/an Irish gnome  a/an Irish joke  - my guess: both with an    a/an NATO alliance - my guess: a    a/an anti[-racist] - my guess: an    :confused: