Omitting an article

[marcmanner]

American English (in case it's different from British in this case):

Which one of the following is correct:

A. Choose apartment type
B. Choose an apartment type

Context: it's a website that allows people to search apartments for rent. The first screen of the website asks users to pick an "apartment type", i.e. "Studio", "1 Bedroom", "2 Bedroom", etc.

I thought that the "Choose an apartment type" is the correct one, but my friend told me the "Choose apartment type" is the correct form and I'm a bit confused, because I see no reason to omit the "an" article.

Please help,
Thank you!

[Joe]

"Choose an apartment type" is grammatically correct but "Choose apartment type" is often used in the situation you describe and is perfectly normal (in that context).

[Joe]

Posted by marcmanner:

Joe, your answer was very helpful. I'm still wondering:

1. Given that both "Choose apartment type" and "Choose an apartment type" seem to be correct, which one is preferred and sounds more natural - and if it's the second one: why?

2. Is there a more general rule for these kind of article omissions, or is it something that needs to be learned on a case-by-case basis?

In other words, I'm looking for a general rule that'll be able to apply in some other cases to figure out when dropping the "an" or "a" is acceptable or maybe even preferred.

Thanks again,
Marc

[Joe]

1. Given that both "Choose apartment type" and "Choose an apartment type" seem to be correct, which one is preferred and sounds more natural - and if it's the second one: why?

For screens and forms on a website space is often limited and it is perfectly natural to drop "structure"/"non-content" words like articles.

2. Is there a more general rule for these kind of article omissions, or is it something that needs to be learned on a case-by-case basis?

I'm not aware of any particular "rule". As indicated above, it's often a question of space. Typically in newspaper headlines, where space is almost always at a premium, non-content words will be dropped, for example:
MP HIT BY CAR