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hi dear all!!!! how are you?? I �m helping a friend with some business letters she has to write for her English workshop at university. she wrote this phrase on a notice of payment. when i read it i realized about a mistake, the "an" before advice. however, she told me that she had copied that phrase from a sample letter her teacher gave her. i know her teacher, she was one of my teachers at universtity and she is a geniuos! so I started doubting about this "mistake". can be possible to write an advice in some specific contexts? the phrase is the following one:
Thank
you for being so prompt in sending the documents for our last order N� 114469,
and the bank should be sending you an advice shortly.
i �ve just found that "an advice" is a document (e.g.
advice note) or a specific formal written advice, and in that sense
it �s acceptable to call a number of these "advices"
could be that right??????? native speakers....are you there????????
I �m here and as a native speaker I �ve never heard that, but I haven �t lived in an English speaking country for over 11 years, so I hope someone else can confirm it one way or the other for you.
Hi,
Just to clarify from my own experience and teaching.. �an � advice is only typically heard in American English. British English uses �some � advice � or �a piece of � advice. As we use advice as plural already, it seems illogical to suggest �an � advice.By the way, I agree about the �and �: there should be a new sentence there instead. But this is just in my culture! I too have lived in Mexico for 6 years so who knows what I �ve lost along the way...:).
To add to Yams and Bruce �s explanation you can also use "an advice" to refer to "an official notice concerning a business transaction" (source: FindLaw Legal Dictionary). So, in this context "an advice" is correct.
Edit: Ahem... didn�t notice you were the one asking in the first place, Yams...
Language changes along with people �s daily needs.To my surprise, I have read somewhere "advices".Though I never thought it is correct.Since some stative verbs could accept the -ING form ,so just ,dear teachers, get ready to meet across more surprises.