articles - Is it correct to say "via a"?


Is it considered proper English to say something like this?



I called her via a telephone.



Or should the indefinite article be omitted entirely?



I called her via telephone.



If the indefinite article is to be omitted, are there any cases in which it should not be? Or, does it even matter?



Answer



If you look at the Merriam-Webster dictionary, two of the example usages for via are as follows:



He did some research via computer.


We went home via a shortcut.



So the second example shows you can certainly use a after via. ("We went home via shortcut" sounds wrong to me.)


However, I would say via telephone. This usage is closer to via computer, because telephone here refers not to a specific telephone, but to the general medium of telephony. Similarly, you would go somewhere via train or via superhighway, if you are talking about trains or superhighways in the abstract; but via the Orient express or via the Mass Pike, if you are talking about a specific train or superhighway.


If you are talking about a specific telephone, I wouldn't use via; I think you have to say something like "I called her on my cell phone."


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